The 5th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art under the title “Between the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will’’ will take place from June 23, 2015 to September 30, 2015. Forty-four artists and the collective group Depression Era, from 25 countries all around the world will show their artworks, new and old productions.
The Depression Era collective presents a group project, installed in a room of 8x9 metres, forming a common thesis about our place and time.When in a constant and deep crisis, one loses mainly two things: ones sustenance – work, food, capital, basic resources – but also ones visibility – the possibility for a person’s story to exist and be heard or seen by others. Depression Era makes some of these lost stories visible and heard again, presenting them in the public sphere as a new network of stories: a mosaic of images, video and texts taking us past the age of happy endings.The installation features works of the members of Depression Era and projects produced through the collective’s year-long collaboration with young artists in a series of artistic workshops.The project has no beginning, middle, or ending. It creates intersections and continuous entanglements on the room’s vertical and horizontal surfaces, against a digital live image feed by all who participate in the exhibition, running for the entire Biennale summer – a constant, autonomous flow without pause or turning back. The installation is organized around a rotating square-within-a-square. The ensuing discontinuity creates a paradox, filled by accumulation, correlations and sequential voids. Different points and modules align with either of the two squares, on the bays or protrusions created by the rotation. Our collective project remains in a constant state of becoming, its readings changing along the different tracks of the audience. The project’s points and modules collide, unite or set themselves apart as they encounter the Biennale’s constituent states, between the optimism of the will and the pessimism of the intellect.
Duration: 23.06 - 30.09.2015
Curatorial team DE: Fysakis Pavlos, Gioti Marina, Kapsianis Kostas, Langis Tassos, Prinos Yorgos, Salameh Georges, Tsoumplekas Dimitris, Voulgari Chrissoula.
Biennale 5 Curator: Katerina Gregos
Artists: Charisis Giorgos, Fysakis Pavlos, Hadjiaslanis Yiannis, Hatziyannaki Zoe, Hatziharalampous Eirini, Gialidou Korina, Giselidou Vera, Gripeos Giorgos, Doumpenidis Konstantinos, Drivas George, Kakoulidis Harry, Kafkas Yiannis, Kapsianis Kostas, Kiamos Panos, Kokkinos Akis, Komini Lena, Langis Tassos, Massouridou Mari, Mavropoulou Maria, Michailidou maria, Michalakis Dimitris, Moutafis Giorgos, Nikitaki Margarita, Paraskevopoulou Asimina, Pliatsikas Andreas, Prinos Yorgos, Rapakoussis Dimitris, Rozi Anthi, Salameh Georges, Spagouros Vassilis, Staveris Spyros, Stathopoulos Kosmas, Stefatou Olga, Tatsis Vaggelis, Theodoropoulos Yiannis, Tsagkarakis Marinos, Tsagkatakis Sotiris, Tsoumplekas Dimitris, Van Versendaal Harry, Vasilikos Lukas, Vorgia Pasqua, Vourloumis Eirini
Design: Βabasikas Petros
Production: Tsagkarakis Marinos, Tatsis Vaggellis
Development live feed: Dimitris Marlagkoutsos