Hito Steyerl, Vangelis Vlahos
dal 20/10/2004 al 20/11/2004
Segnalato da
20/10/2004
Hito Steyerl, Vangelis Vlahos
Els Hanappe Underground, Athens
Vangelis Vlahos combines models with photographs and archival materials. At the centre is the Athens Tower, the first skyscraper built in the International Style during the reign of the junta. The six models represent various stages in the design, laying bare the various discussions that accompanied each step towards the final choice. Architecture and its impact on society, the social and political consequences of the use of public space are also at the centre of a film by Berlin based filmmaker and author Hito Steyerl. 'The Empty Centre' follows the development of the Potzdamer Platz in Berlin after the fall of the wall in 1989.
Vangelis Vlahos combines models with photographs and archival materials. At the
centre is the Athens Tower, the first skyscraper built in the International
Style during the reign of the junta. The six models represent various stages in
the design, laying bare the various discussions that accompanied each step
towards the final choice. Just as the arguments nowadays surrounding the
destiny of ground zero in New York reveal a lot about the nation’s psyche, the
concerns back then were not purely practical. Equally important was the
symbolic power of a building that was definitely going to be in the public’s
eye.
After a first presentation at Manifesta 5 this summer in San Sebastian, Spain,
the artist now continues his research, turning towards the inside of the
building. Did the occupants over the years indeed reflect the character the
owners were seeking? The Athens Tower was designed for commercial purposes and
the lists of tenants, which the artist sampled by copying one month taken out
of seven different years in between 1974 to 2004, expose their changing
composition that in turn results from shifting political and economical
circumstances. The black-and-white photographs of the Tower and the U.S.
Embassy have been taken from difficult angles, reflecting the distorted view
experienced by Athenians.
Architecture and its impact on society, the social and political consequences
of the use of public space are also at the centre of a film by Berlin based
filmmaker and author Hito Steyerl. ‘The Empty Centre’ follows the development
of the Potzdamer Platz in Berlin after the fall of the wall in 1989. Not only
does it relate the implications of the takeover by multinational companies for
the original habitants of the square, many of them immigrants, it also digs
deeper into the history of the city and its enduring uneasy relationship with
foreigners. Whereas foreigners help to shape the identity of the city they are
recurrently excluded from public life. Hito Steyerl reveals the ongoing
underlying tension by technical means, overlapping frames of her own video
recordings with original footage from belle époque newsreels. The many layers
provide the viewer with an insight into the complexity of the matter: the
narrator quotes from early 20th century cultural critic Siegfried Kracauer’s
writings on Nazism, immigrants and German workers take turns to vent their
feelings, while in the background music can be heard from Felix Mendelssohn, a
19th century German born composer from Jewish background who was denied a
passport of Berlin citizenship.
Image: Hito Steyerl,'The Empty Centre' (film still)
Opening on Thursday, 21 October 8-10 p.m.
Wed/Sat 12-4 p.m., Thu/Fri 12-8 p.m.
Els Hanappe Underground
Melanthiou 2, Psyrri
Atene