Traditional Greek folk songs have not survived change through the generations as they were communicated through word of mouth; they had however exceeded any hierarchical system and were recited by all classes. Much like the multiplication and repetition of our contemporary thoughts, our identities are easily distorted but celebrated by new and sometimes stereotypical standards.
Intermedius, uses a space that spectators may pass and become involved with in various degrees. It consists of two parts; a documentary and a sculpture installation and performance. The song that I perform ‘Andromeda’ uses traditional folk concepts from northern Greece but comes from a current artist. My choreography is based on the folk dance from Epirus, situated on the border between Greece and Albania. The steps are slow, some like crawling or rocking which is based on the different levels of ground on that particular terrain. The outcome of the artwork is a hybrid because of the way in which space; time, performance and materiality are all in active play so that an element of surprise might occur. The installation could also be described as a stoppage in that it has no continuous reality. It is the meeting point of conflicted psychological economies. In a way, there is a playing out of repressions, desires, moods, images, impulses through which an audience might pass through. Much like the journey, impulses and element of surprise that I passed through in Scotland.
Whilst fiIming a documentary on falconers in the woods, I became seriously ill and had a near death experience that almost cost me my reproductive system and fertility. This had occurred due to my IUD contraception which created pelvic inflammation. It contextualised the importance of what fertility means despite the contemporary outlook that our society may have. Instinct and perhaps learnt behaviours - even coincidence and fortune telling - play a large role in emotional attachments to these functionalities. I used my time being hospitalised along with footage of falconry in my film to highlight these themes and how in turn nature is taken for granted. In medieval times, Falconry and fishing were the most popular sport amongst royalty. Once commoners began to use these birds of prey, laws were passed to set a hierarchical standard for which birds could be used. Falconry also dates back to ancient Greece, where men and boys would practice in marshes. As humans, we often put ourselves above others, above nature, but our tribal, spiritual and natural histories depend on these elements. Fish are of the water and often the victims, ferrets and rabbits under the earth, the falcons in the air as victors and the Humans deeming themselves facilitators. Though each have a purpose and were once free, they have been priced, hunted, limited, and owned to the benefit and detriment to ourselves.
The use of plague masks within my performance not only corresponds with the hood of the falcon and it’s beak, it examines a fragment of history on this island, of death and tradition and blood sport of the ‘other’. I have photographed fish skins that I screen printed on my costumes, designed a transparent backgammon set in which identical performers gamble against themselves. Backgammon is also one of the oldest games discovered it is dependent on both skill and luck. I have also built a swing that represents the female reproductive system made of plexiglass and metal. “Aιώρηση” was used in ancient Greece as a therapy to cure trauma. The performers during the performance repeat postures and movements of my healing process.
