THE THREAD NETWORK OF IKARIA

&

DOUBLE HOMELAND

IKARIA (GRÈce), 2021

During a ten-day residency at Artemis Studio, overlooking the Gulf of Na, we experimented with the thread network in a radically new context: a beach.

We complete the installation with a suspension that splits the horizon: between the rocks bordering the Gulf of Na, we stretch a wire on which are sewn three sheets representing, respectively, the bodies of those who drowned in the Gulf of Na (recurring) and the Mediterranean, the second Icarus with wings melted by the sun sinking into the sea, and the third, a goat sacrificed to Artemis, whose temple ruins lie nearby.

The three sculpture-bobbins are made exclusively from materials recovered on the island.

The reel sculptures are set up on the beach. One shows Icarus’s mom waiting for his corpse on the beach, or more generally a sailor’s wife waiting for his return, hence the stuck bike wheel.

The other is a fisherman-thinker perched on his rock.

Finally, Icarus, made of plastics collected from beaches, including pieces of buoys. We wanted to place him in the water, but the sea pushed him back onto the beach. What the sea has spat back onto the beach is impossible to return to her. Icarus, with his burnt wings, found refuge on the river at the back of the beach.

The thread network lasted three days, during which participants climbed the rocks in search of hanging points. Off-season, they were mostly locals and long-term tourists.

They drew a verticality of threads and suspended pieces of wood.

The dismantling party provided an opportunity for artistic expression, with guitars and singing, and encounters between the inhabitants of the Gulf of Na, young hippies from the island, a German couple in their sixties, and others. Everyone was given the opportunity to collect the threads.

Double HOMELAND

Διπλή πατρίδα 

Στον κόλπο του Να χαθήκαν οι ψυχές, 
ένα σεντόνι ανοίγω
Κι ο Ίκαρος, τούτο το πέλαγο τον έπνιξε, 
ανοίγω κι ένα δεύτερο
Κι η αίγα εδώ, σφάγιο προς χάριν της θεάς Αρτέμιδος, 
ανοίγω και το τρίτο
Ψυχές Ίκαρος Αίγα
τρία σημεία εν ευθεία, 
του ορίζοντα παράλληλη ορίζουν

Ψυχές μεταναστών βουλιάζουν στη Μεσόγειο την ανθρωπιά του κόσμου
ένα σεντόνι ανοίγω
Αδιόρθωτος ο άνθρωπος του υβριστή Ικάρου την πτήση σισύφεια διατρέχει τον ήλιο κυνηγώντας
ανοίγω κι ένα δεύτερο
Μυριάδες ζώα σφάζονται για χάρη του ανθρώπου
ανοίγω και το τρίτο
Μια μέρα όλους μας ένα λευκό σεντόνι θα μας πάρει 
Διπλή γραμμή 
Γραμμή του ορίζοντα 
Γραμμή της μοίρας 
Ελλάδα μου, Γαία μου
Τη διπλή πατρίδα μου θέλω να γιορτάσω
Σεντόνι λευκό, σημαία λευκή σαν τον αφρό 
που κρύβει μέσα του την τέχνη εφτά χρωμάτων