STUDY FOR 2 SILOS
STUDY FOR 2 SILOS is an interdisciplinary interactive installation presented as a diptych in two wine storage silos.
It’s housed at Dexamenes Seaside Hotel in Kourouta Beach of the region of Elis, Greece, from 13.8 until 29.9.2019 and is set-up in stages.
Study for 2 Silos includes:
- Installation inside Silo 01 “Instrument inside Silo. A study in memory”.
- Installation inside Silo 02 “Crying Room”
- Ending Performance “No moon Today”
silo #1 – 15.9 to 29.9.2019
Instrument inside Silo. A study in memory.
A site-specific installation working as large scale wind instrument that can be played simultaneously by seven players.
- concept | sound design + wind instrument design: Panú
- construction of wind instrument: Dimitris Behlivanidis
- plumbing constructions: Kostas Kalogeropoulos & team
- technician: Petros Doca
silo #2 – 13.8 to 29.9.2019
Crying Room
A multimedia installation in Silo 2. Lights, falling water, video projection, sound and various materials. Excerpt from the libretto Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights by Gertrud Stein, 1938 – 2’57”, featuring Maria Houhou as Doctor Faustus
- concept | dramaturgy | lights | video: Magda Cirillo
- edited by: Delphine Vailly, Stéphane Moreau
- electrical constructions: Michalis & Dimitris Kostopoulos & team
- plumbing constructions: Kostas Kalogeropoulos & team
- metal constructions: Yorgos Κondilopoulos & team
- technician: Petros Doca
- other collaborators: Christos Kopsahilis, Bastien Gallet
Two cylinders stand tall, withered by the sun, the rain, the wind. Rust has eroded their metal skeleton. Almost in ruins, hollow, with puffed-up floors and caved-in ceilings.
Their exterior has acquired hues of ochre, brushed-on by the sand carried by the wind; their interior is painted red, the black currants have left stripes on the metal. They float on a lake and their aged bodies dirty its waters. They once held the grape must that was fermented for many a day, keeping it moist inside them. Two double arrays of cubes surround them: shiny, vibrant, refurbished to mint condition, oozing a wonderful whiff. They were once the servants of the two silos—in their sturdy walls, they separated the must’s filtrate and sediment so as to ship a robust product to coasts not so far away.
Everything was working day in-day out, at top capacity, a constant and glorified give and take, until it all came to a halt. They were rendered useless, nobody needed them anymore. Their surroundings changed, along with the chemistry and the users. The two silos still stand, reminiscent of time’s decay, of their past lustre, their vibrant resonance.
As a site-specific installation it’s fully integrated to the environment. It takes advantage of some of the natural elements around it and draws inspiration from the remnants of the silos’ previous use and the life in the region from antiquity until today. It brings forth memories of times when the daily events of the area were connected to various arts, crafts, production units (winemaking, Tyrian purple from Bolinus brandaris shells, silk threads, items made of reeds), but also, to socio-political developments (building of a railroad track for the production and export of currants and wine, the crisis that followed, and more). The hotel revives a more particular memory of a specific story, of the currant crisis that devastated the region, as other parts of Greece. The necessity to recover from this crisis, led to new solutions in winemaking, which eventually organized the country’s viticulture. Recently, the space changed use without, nevertheless, denying its roots, allowing thus History to actively grasp the consciousness of the people and be more than just a commemorative plaque or a passive monument.
As a site-sensitive installation, it aspires to travel to various environments around the world. Having a beach hotel as its departure point, an opportunity arises to redefine the hotel as a model of disparate units relevant to the allocation of space and its use, private or public, local or global. Short-term residents arrive having different needs, as to disassociate themselves from their environment and daily chores and empty their minds from thoughts. All the visitors of the installation, either staying in the area or not, shall discover a different way to see art, through the senses, the sounds and the visual interventions aiming at touching upon personal undertones of sensitivity.
The already existing story was enriched by others venturing on a journey from the cylindrical forms travelling through time, resonating in consonance and enduring the natural elements. Two soulless masses speak volumes about deteriorating human relationships.
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Magda Cirillo is a Paris based dramaturg and curator. She studied French (Athens Univ), art history (Univ Paris I) and dramaturgy (Univ Paris X, Paris III & Paris VIII). For many years she was the curator of Galerie Beaubourg and art director of Statement Gallery, an alternative space dedicated to emerging art forms. She was also appointed collection curator at the Greca Foundation, dedicated to the Greek diaspora. As a dramaturg, she collaborated with the following collectives/theatre labs: Subpoetics International, directed by Seth Baumrin (Nomansland; Untitled with Malči Belič Youth Care Center residents; Zendegi! with students from the University of Opole; Visible and Audible Energy with Slovenian and Ukrainian performers) and Gershom (Stranger in a Strange Land). Apart from curating contemporary artists’ shows and mini festivals (heylepanto! in the city of Nafpaktos for two consecutive years: Maro Michalakakos at Fethiye Mosque & other spaces; Etel Adnan at the Botzaris Foundation & other spaces), she writes, directs, stages plays and performances (J; I.S.M.I.N.I.; Planète Famapoil; Sol Invictus), performs (Los Espontaneos by La Ribot; Planète Famapoil) and devises installations, dramaturgical games and performance workshops.
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Musician, composer and orchestrator Panú (Panagiotis Manouilides) lives in Athens. He has released four personal records (Not Afraid; Pig; Fun(eral) Pop; In Case of Loss), three with the band Lemonostifel (1; 2; 3) and one with Melina Kana (Melina Kana & O Gois Tou Thiseiou). He has a long-running collaboration with dancer and choreographer Konstandina Efthimiadou (kóka & panú) and directors Martha Frintzila (Baumstrasse), Prodromos Tsinikoris, and Anestis Azas; also, with the musicians and composers Michalis Siganidis (Pop, a record featuring Alkinoos Ioannidis and poems by Kostas Vrachnos), and Vassilis Mantzoukis.
He has composed and performed for the National Theatre of Greece, the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the Athens & Epidavros Festival, Onassis STEGI, Münchner Kammerspiele, and Rootlessroot. Moreover, he works with many Greek musicians in studio recordings and concerts in Greece and overseas.
produced by: heyheyparis ! (Paris), ΑΜi (Patras), Dexamenes Seaside Hotel (Kourouta)
