Research Project, N. Georgopoulos, (posted on 16/4/12)

Mataroa vessel, (C) NZ Maritime Museum

My research project is an inquiry into the concept of self-awareness: a state of mind that an individual acquires progressively through the course of an existential journey.

In particular, the aim of this project will be to: explore how such concept is interpreted when integrates into every day life; to construct a context through which to communicate –progressively- the concept of self-awareness to a (primarily) European audience operating within the age bracket of 20 to 70-years old. Ultimately, the project will explore the theme of personal ‘salvation’ as a state of mind gained through out a process of self-exploration. This idea is based on the fact that when a person starts to realise the framework within which its actions aim to function, he or she will embark on a psychotherapeutic process, which ultimately lead to self-awareness.

In order to develop the core idea on which the project's realisation will be based, theoretical work and research are essential prerequisites. More specifically, the components of my research will include: The concept of Archiving within visual culture as a form of conceptual mapping with which artists navigate and therefore, communicate to the viewer various states of being; the Photographic image as a document that reproduce to infinity ‘… what has occurred only once and cannot be repeated existentially.’ (Barthes, 1981 p.4); the ideal of Psychoanalysis as an existential itinerary undertaken by the therapist and patient together in order to gain a deeper understanding of the unconscious processes which take place in our minds and get expressed in all our relationships.

Furthermore, the practical work related to my research project will be to explore -through the design process- the possibility of communicating a particular ‘state’ (destination) through a synthesis (journey). The visual outcome of this project could possibly culminate into a sequence (e.g. mixed media installation) with which the audience could interact with and/or rearrange its components (experience), and therefore, to define its scheme (‘state’) –to some extend.


Nikos Georgopoulos,
London,
February 2012

'Capturing', fish eye photographic series No3 (posted on 18/3/12)

Brick Lane, 28-1-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Kitchen, 16-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Opposite Angel station , 17-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Camberwell , 15-3-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

On Guillermo Kuitca's 'Untitled', 1992. (posted on 16/3/12)

Guillermo Kuitca, 'Untitled', 1989. Oil on vinyl covered mattress. Taken from the book 'The Atlas of Emotion' (Giuliana Bruno)

Cartography is increasingly becoming a very popular and central locus of contemporary visual culture, not only because artists are making maps -travel or subversive ones- but because ''... artistic endeavors are curatorially measured and exhibited as maps that chart the trajectory of a movement''.

In 1992, Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca, produced a series of works under the title 'Untitled'. The main themes underpinning Kuitca's work is the mapping of history and loss. In this particular series, the artist depicts imaginary maps by painting them on mattresses. The mattress' buttons link areas and territories. The maps emerge in the surface like a stained memory. Hence, the mattress becomes a living document of one's personal history; of what he or she is dreaming of during the night or of which memories recalls when he or she is going to bed. In Guiliana Brunos' words ''... the mattress was a witness. It absorbed a story, some event -perhaps too many events or not quite enough of them. Now, inevitably, it recounts the tale of what was lived, or unlived''. 

This project can be seen as a form of tender mapping. Not because visually it depicts a map. Rather, because it associates an object that symbolizes home and sleep with an image that in real life can not exist there, but emotionally does. This project is an emotional map because ''... travel and home has been in constant interaction''.


A perfect name for his 'untitled' works could be 'burning beds'.

On Guy Debord's 'naked city' (posted on 16/3/12)

'The naked city', Guy Debord & Asger Jorn, 1957. Print screen.

Back in the 50's, through the Lettrist group, a forerunner of the Situationist International, Guy Debord introduced the term Psychogeography whose definition describes '... the study off the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals'.[1] ''Pick up the map, go out into the city, and walk the circle, keeping as close as you can to the curve. Record the experience as you go, in whatever medium you favor... Complete the circle, and the record ends. Walking makes for content; footage for footage.''[2]

 Tender mapping, a cartographic genre established by Madeleine de Scudery's map of Tenderness in 1654[3], played an important role in the Situationists' psychogeography. Inspired by a 1948 American detective film called Naked City (directed by Jules Dassin), Guy Debord and Asger Jorn designed in 1957 a subversive map of the same name in order to remap Paris on the basis of 'a mobile architecture of living'. The map of The naked city was brought into being by 19 fragments, cut out from a travel map of Paris, whose montage remakes ''... an urban topography into a social and affective landscape''. Through the fragmentation of Paris and its situationist re-construction, the map forms new relations among the city's parts and their inhabitants and reconfigures them with red directional arrows that link the cut outs. In short, through the map of The naked city, the Situationists attempted a remapping of Paris by considering the relationship between spaces and emotions, and as Guy Debord himself stated ''... spatial development must take into account the emotional effects''(Guy Debord, Report on the Construction of Situations, 1958).

In that sense, Situationists' geography of 'lived situations' consists a tender cartography, very similar to the allegorical tactics featured in de Scudery's map of Tenderness, and as Guiliana Bruno puts it ''... in its exploration of the emotional edge of lived space as an affective traversal of the street, situationist mapping constituted itself as a socio-political psychoanalysis of urban space''.


Notes:
1. Debord, G. Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography
2. MacFarlane, R. A Road of One's Own. Times Literary Supplement, Octomber 7, 2005
3. Bruno, G. (2002) Atlas of Emotion: journeys in Art, Architecture, and Film. New York: Verso.

On Madeleine de Scudery's 'Carte du pays de Tendre' (posted on 15/3/12)

'Carte du pays de Tendre' (the map of the land of tenderness). Designed by Madeleine de Scudery in 1665 for her novel 'Clerie'. First engraved by Francois Chauveau. Taken from the book 'The Atlas of Emotion' (Giuliana Bruno)

Nowadays, people are very much familiar with maps, since such cartographic schemes are inextricably related to the concept of a journey.  Having said that though, there seem to be another genre of cartography with which we may not be so familiar with. Such geography is not intended to identify an existing geographical territory of the world, rather it is about representing the experience -gained through the journey- as a journey.

Tender geography; imaginary cartography; emotional mapping; tender cartography; allegorical geography, all of these terms are indeed very much relevant to be used for describing such navigational schemes. The map of the land of Tenderness (carte du pays de Tendre) is one of the very early examples -if not the first- of such cartographic approach. Designed in 1654 by Madeleine de Scudery for her novel Clelie[1], and first engraved by Francois Chauveau, the map of tenderness is a geographic allegory of emotions and 'relational space'. It is ''... an imagenary cartography of intimate space, where emotions take place and are spatially represented in their motion...''[2].

As far as concerns the narrative context of de Scudery's novel Clelie, the map is said to be a plan designed by the eponymous character in order to show the way to the land of Tenderness. In particular, one can observe a landscape composed by allegorical fixtures, such as imaginary towns, rivers, sea, lakes, trees and mountains. To name a few, there is the 'River of Inclination', 'the Sea of Enmity', the 'Dangerous Sea', the 'Lands Undiscovered', the 'Town of Oblivion', 'the Town of Tenderness', the one of 'Alacrity' and so forth.

Through her book 'Atlas of Emotion', Guiliana Bruno comments that ''... there are no fixed directives for this map tour. In the undetermined itinerary, several movements are possible and encouraged. There are even different destinations.'' For example, if one wants to reach the land of tenderness and approach the undiscovered lands, there are 3 possible itineraries to follow, along which emotional states, in the form of towns, rivers, lakes etc appear. As Bruno notes, ''... these  routes are a spatialized representation of the stages of love''. One can reach 'tender upon inclination' by following the 'river of Inclination', which then leads into the 'Dangerous sea' and beyond, into the amorous 'Lands Undiscovered'. The second possible itinerary to follow in order to reach the aforementioned destination would be to reach 'tender upon Esteem' (respect). Furthermore, one can reach 'tender upon Recognizance' (gratitude). Even though, the aforementioned imaginary itineraries are drawn as 3 different routes which lead to a destination, all 3 of them connect at some point. Exactly, as it happens in real life and in real emotional relations between human beings. ''Time and discourse are not only understood spatially but are mobilised in imaginative ways''.

In conclusion, as Bruno puts it, Madeleine de Scudery's map of tenderness ''... embodies a narrative voyage. That is, it visualises, in the form of a landscape, an itinerary of emotions which is, in turn, the topos of the novel.'' In that sense, ''... the exterior world conveys an interior landscape... ''  and the way ''... to traverse that land is to visit the ebb and flow of a personal and yet social psychogeography.'' Hence, the map itself becomes the voyage and the spectator, its passenger.

Notes:
1. Madeleine de Scudery, Clelie, histoire romaine, 10 vols, Paris: Augustin Courbe, 1654-60
2. Bruno, G. (2002) Atlas of Emotion: Journeys in Art, Architecture, and Film. New York: Verso

On Ed Ruscha's 'Twentysix Gasoline Stations' (posted on 11/3/12)

Ed Ruscha, 'Twentysix Gasoline Stations', cover, 1963. Print screen.

Ed Ruscha (b.1937) is an American artist who is working with subject matters such as the banality of everyday life. Born in Nebraska and raised in Oklahoma City, throughout his work, Ruscha ''... consistently combines the cityscape of his adopted hometown with vernacular language to communicate a particular urban experience.''

In 1963, Ruscha published his 1st photographic book -which is considered as the 1st artist's book ever been made, a 48-page publication called 'Twenty six Gasoline Stations'. Through out the book, Ruscha documents various of his trips along Rout66, between Los Angeles and his hometown, OKLAHOMA City. In the book 'Ed Rouscha and Photography' it is written that by ''... using his Yashica camera, he took the pictures from across the street, mostly during the day, with the light either behind him or to the side, which emphasized the stations' facades''.

In an interview to Paul Karlstrom between 1980-81, Ruscha said that the title for the book came long before he started taking the pictures. Having said that, it is very much important to consider at this point the fact that the artist belongs to a generation that grew up in an era where the automobile was the symbolism of freedom, and therefore, roads that connected small places with bigger ones seemed to be the medium for 'individual salvation'. ''Ruscha, however, was not interested in cars themeselves as much as in the ride...'' In his essay 'Words as landscapes', Kerry Brougher notes:

''Back in 1956, in the days when those filling stations still pumped ethyl, two 18-years old 'Okies' were making their way across country in a black 1950 Ford. Stopping at nearly every filling station on Route 66 to put another quart of oil in the car, Manson Williams, who would go on to write the hit song 'Calssical Gas', and Ed Rouscha were moving to Los Angeles, aiming straight toward the sunset... the warm weather, beaches, girls and art school =and away from the small-town, repressive environment of Oklahoma City.''

Ed Ruscha, 'Twentysix Gasoline Stations', spread, 1963. Print screen.

Ed Ruscha, 'Twentysix Gasoline Stations', spread, 1963. Print screen.

So, in that sense, when Ruscha made this book through which he showcases (only) photographs he took of Gasoline Stations during his trips on Route 66, he attempts to compose and/or to archive an existential journey through which he broke with his Catholic past and begun his life to become who he is now. He attempts to compose an existential journey -by archiving landmarks of such journeys- for all of us who have been through such itineraries. Gasoline stations are crucial points in a road trip, since without them such journeys would not have been possible. By using his camera more like a capturing device rather than an expressive tool, and by documenting Gas Stations, he attempts to document all these things and meanings that they (Gas Stations) encapsulate. By creating a sequence composed by fragments he observes during his journey, through his right window, he is creating a map; a very subversive one.

In conclusion, as Brougher notes: ''In one of his early paintings, 'U.S. 66 (1960)... still has its feet.. in Abstract Expressionism; but the hovering 'US 66' which is superimposed over the sky... with its missing periods, can be read not only as 'United States' but also as 'us' -we are Route 66''. We have become who we are because of that journey, which 'saved' our lives. While we are approaching our destination we are starting to realise that. And that 'particular urban experience' is the very essence of an existential journey; that of the acquisition of our identity.




Nikos Georgopoulos
London,
March 2012

On Jonathan Ellery's '136 Points of Reference' (posted on 11/3/12)

Jonathan Ellery, '136 Points of Reference', 2005. Print screen.

In 2005, London based Graphic Designer, Jonathan Ellery, released a book through out which he examined the influences ''... that have informed and defined his and the studios’ work.''[1]

Through the book, Ellery is attempting to testify his points of reference; images and objects, books and photographs that, in one way or another, had an effect on, or they are connected to him. It is a personal archive that he wants to celebrate but at the same time to let go. Hence, in order to do that, he has to be sure that he will save it from oblivion by documenting it through photography, since photography's very essence is to reproduce to infinity ''... what could never be repeated existentially.'' [2]

So, in a sense, Jonathan Ellery is immortalizing 136 Points of Reference of his. On that basis, it seems that as a designer, initiates a project that shares the same ideas, in a different form though, with Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas'. It is this very human impulsion for individual commemoration as well as the fear of death and destruction -which oblivion stands for in this particular context- that creates this framework from which such projects emerge within contemporary visual culture.


Notes:
1. http://jonathanellery.com/projects/?id=6&subcat=&cat=3&i=27
2. Barthes, R. (1981) Camera Lucida. New York: Hill and Wang

Nikos Georgopoulos
London,
March 2012

On Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas' (posted on 11/3/12)

Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas', Sheet No 3. Print screen.

In ancient Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan whose duty was to hold in his arms the sky -in contemporary terms one could translate the word 'sky' as 'the universe'- and thus, preventing it by falling on earth. However, as Buchloh observes in his essay 'The Anomic Archive', ''...in the 19th century, the term was increasingly deployed in German to identify any tabular display of systematized knowledge (image.1), so that one could have encountered an atlas in almost all fields of empirical science...''.

Gerhard Richter (b.1932) is a world acclaimed German visual artist whose work has helped re-define contemporary painting. In 1962 he begun working on a personal project, called 'Atlas', exhibited for the first time in public in 1972, at the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, in Utrecht (image.4). Its synthesis begun with everyday life photographs (sometimes found, sometimes the artist's work) that Richter was collecting as well as donated by friends. Post cards, images extracted by newspapers, pornographic ones as well as historical images such us ''... shots of emaciated concentration-camp inmates...''.

Since its 1st exhibition, Richter's 'Atlas' has been exhibited several times, in different places of the world including 5.000 fragments as well as changes and re-arrangements of its content ''... as an organism that continues to evolve and change''[3], depicting aspects of his personal life, memories and experiences as well as sketches, studies or the artist's various states of being. For instance, when Gerhard Richter was working on the Titian's Annunciation, he did not included in his 'Atlas' the photographic sources and studies that he did on it, while being on Venice, but he included the photographs he took during his stay there, as a tourist.

The whole 'Atlas' is characterized by such configurations and relations between Richter's body of work (public) and its backstage cosmos (private). On that basis, the 'Atlas' is the artist's world, and as much complex and discursive as it appears to be, it is organized into a system (image.3a.b) -that doesn't necessarily follows an order in terms of chronology, but that of content and form- that allows the viewer to observe fragments and through which, to perceive the artist's personality and psychic processes. It is a synthesis, transformed progressively -and conceptually- by fragments into an identity; his identity, as much complex and discursive as a man's identity can possibly be.

In December 2003, 'Atlas' was exhibited for the 1st time in the United Kingdom, at White Chapel gallery, London. The press release, published on the occasion of the exhibition, noted amongst others that the ''... 'Atlas' maps the ideas, processes, life and times of one of the most important painters of the late 20th Century.''

'Atlas of the world'. Print screen.

Hanging plan of the 'Atlas', Gerhard Richter. Taken by the book 'Gerhard Richter: Atlas' (1997)

(detail) Diagram of the 'Atlas', Gerhard Richter. Taken by the book 'Gerhard Richter: Atlas' (1997)

Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas'(1972), exhibition catalogue. Print screen.

Gerhard Richter's 'Atlas', installation view, Stadtische im Lenbachhaus, Munich, 1989. Photocopy.

Nikos Georgopoulos,
London,
March 2012

'Capturing', fish eye photographic series No2 (posted on 10/3/12)

Forstons street, 24-2-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Provost street, 24-2-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Provost street, 24-2-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

12, Niagara close, 25-2-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

12, Niagara close, 25-2-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

28-1-12. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Beautifully 'Meaningless' (posted on 26/2/12)

Lydia Pape, 'Livro do Tempo' (the book of time). Installation view, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK.

Lygia Pape's 'Book of time' doesn't achieve communication, and quite frankly, I don't think communication was amongst the artist's intentions. So, why should I be interested in that kind of personal interpretation when it doesn't invite me to participate, in one way or another? Or, why should I be interested in something that 'I may not like' since, the only basis for dialogue that offers to the public, lays entirely on personal taste and aesthetics?

Lydia Pape (1927-2004) was a Brazilian Artist active in both the Concrete and Neo-Concretist movements in Brazil. Earlier on this year, a retrospective of her work took place in London's Serpentine Gallery, showcasing a wide range of her work. Admittedly, what made a massive impression to the audience -including the writer- amongst the exhibits, was a large scale installation called the 'Livro do Tempo' (The book of Time).

The installation consists by 365 wooden objects. The critic Adrian Searle notes: 'Each of these objects (or 'pages' of a book) represents a day... even though there are 365 of these, none of them represent a specific day of the year.' He continuous by saying '... but the more you look and wonder along between them, you begin to get the sense of the passing days as they turn'.[1]

As far as I am concerned, Lygia Pape's 'Book of time' (1961-1963) doesn't achieve communication, and quite frankly, I don't think communication was amongst the artist's intentions; if it was, it failed massively. For instance, why is this yellow and not red? Or why is this is like that and not like this? In my view, Pape's intention was to express herself and her feelings in relation to her life, memories, sentimentality etc. through fragments as An alphabet of feelings. And that is interesting, fascinating and sentimental! But it's not intended to communicate her feelings or some kind of an idea similar to commemoration, personal documentation etc. She did something beautifully crafted but it's not intended to work, or to function in any other way. This is exactly what consists the fundamental difference between art and design.

On that basis, why should I be interested in that kind of personal interpretation when it doesn't invite me to participate, in one way or another? In other words, why should I be interested in something that I may 'not like' since, the only basis for dialogue that offers to the public, lays entirely on personal taste and aesthetics?

Lydia Pape, 'Livro do Tempo' (the book of time). Installation view, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK.

Because, the alphabet has a specific function to deliver; that of the composition of meaning. To visualize the meaning that an individual wants to communicate. However, the aforementioned installation stays still at the stage of the fragments. Clearly, she is not interested in elaborating on, or in communicating the most important thing, the feeling of self awareness; the state of mind that she acquired through such a -psychoanalytic dare I say- process. And don't tell me that this (image 1) is the state of mind. This is the fragments that compose a totality; a corpus if you like. By placing them all together, it doesn't feel like a corpus. It feels like a collection. But the corpus is not just a collection of things. The corpus, is a symbolic solid form that looks how it looks, because if you deconstruct it conceptually, constructively or sequentially, you will get a very clear sense of the process that was followed by its creator. These fragments though, are beautiful arbitrary shapes that doesn't necessarily carry any form of meaning.[2]

In conclusion, even though the 'Book of Time' is beautiful, it doesn't make any sense. It is beautifully 'meaningless'. In my view, beauty derives from the meaning in relation to the form, and therefore, that kind of beauty is objective -as opposed to ' I like this/ I don't like that' subjective, non-justified statements; thus, fundamentally ultimate.


Nikos Georgopoulos
London,
February 2012

'Capturing', fish eye photographic series No1 (posted on 23/2/12)

Camberwell College of Arts, London, 30/JAN/2012. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Nikos & Mike, Brick Lane, London, 04/JAN/2012. Photo by D. Marketou

Canal, Islington, London, 31/JAN/2012. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Nikos & Dylan, Camberwell College of Arts, London, 30/JAN/2012. Photo by L. Kym

Camberwell College of Arts, London, 30/JAN/2012. Photo by N. Georgopoulos

Jens Brockmeier on the narrative fabric of autobiographical memory; the elective affinity of film and memory (posted on 22/2/12)

Orson Welles, print screen from Wikipedia.

Jens Brockmeier is a Senior Scientist based at the Free University Berlin, with a background in psychology and philosophy. He also is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Manitoba, a Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Innsbruck, and a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Narrative Research of the University of East London.

This afternoon he gave a talk under the title The art of remembering and forgetting at Chelsea's lecture theatre about the narrative fabric of autobiographical memory and what gives narrative, visual, and performative artists privileged access in exploring it. In particular, he mentioned that 'the reason why we remember or forget is not in psychology, nor in neuroscience, but in narrative art'. Acknowledging that many contemporary artists use film in their research of autobiographic memories[1], he talked about films as forms of narrative[2].

Brockmeier divided his presentation in 3 chapters. The first one was called Remembering (a) film, the second one Filming memory and concluded with the last chapter of Films as remembering and forgetting.

Nikos Georgopoulos

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Notes
1. The killing maschine, installation, 2007. Jannet Cadiff & Burres Miler.
2. 'A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet', Orson Welles.

'All passengers ready for disembarkation; it's 1945' (posted on 14/2/12)

Mataroa vessel, (C) NZ Maritime Museum

'All passengers ready for disembarkation; it's 1945' is an essay on the New Zealand 'liberty ship' Mataroa, and more specifically, on a particular voyage realized in the 22nd of December, in 1945. About 200 young Greek intellectuals embarked on it, in order to travel from Greece to Paris, at a time where the Greek civil war burst out, and in that respect, to save their lives. The essay aims to provide information on the historical context of the aforementioned journey and, more importantly, to elaborate on the view that Mataroa came to be a medium for salvation and thus, it can be seen a symbolism to self awareness.

The term Liberty ship refers to cargo ships developed in the United States of America during the second World War. Producing them under a single design, the aim of the US Maritime Commission was to reduce their cost and speed of construction in order to built cargo vessels faster than German U-boats could sink them. 'A Liberty ship was designed to carry about 10,000 tons of cargo, but in wartime conditions often carried much more'[1].

After the World War II was over, Greece was in a very bad condition[2]. Two months after the invading army left the country and the streets of Athens were gradually stopped being crowded, by dead bodies of civilians -who starved to death or got executed by soldiers, in retaliation for rebel attacks against them- a civil war between the Communists and the Right wings burst out, regarding who would going to be in charge of the country. Having said that, from December of 1944, Athenians experienced further chaos: bombings, assassinations, arrests and battles in between the debris and the barricades. Due to the war, everything was out of order; people would postpone academic education -if not cancel it permanently, and Universities were occasionally open. By that time, it became clear enough that anyone -either Left or Right wing supporter- who would wish to survive and to be developed intellectually, artistically or politically had to leave the country. The artist and writer -and currently, one of the few remaining passengers of Mataroa- Nelly Adrikopoulou wrote in her book ''.. we had to postpone our lives indefinitely. But life is not the sort of thing you can postpone. Either exist or not.''[3]

During that time, the internationally spoken language -of Diplomacy[4]- was French and the most relevant and active foreign cultural institution in Athens was the Institute Francais d' Athenes[5] -something like a French British Council of the time- and on that basis, Octave Merlier[6] who served as its director from 1938 until 1961 was a very powerful man. Considering the fact that Merlier was a Left wing supporter himself, and that he was aware that many educated and promising young people in Greece were leftists and, therefore, they were in danger of being lost in one way or another, he convinced the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs to assign him all of the unrealized -due to the war- scholarships[7] of the previous academic years -ranging from 1939. As a result of that, in August of 1945, the Institute Francais d' Athenes called for entries and 800 young people applied for a scholarship to study in Paris. Eventually, there were selected people from 60 different specialties and fields, ranging from architects, fine artists and composers to archaeologists, social scientists and doctors.

One of the most interesting points, is that the criteria for the selection of the people who would be awarded, was not how good users of French language were -since most of them were very poor and thus, the same applied for their education- but how good and talented they were in their field and practice. To make a long story short, the aim of this operation was to select a representative sample of people -both Left and Right wing supporters- who deserved to be saved from oblivion. Amongst the people who were selected for embarking in the 'arch' included -the youngsters at the time- Social Science graduate Cornelius Castoriades[8], Historian Nikos Svoronos[9] and many others.

The selected applicants were informed that a New Zealand ship, called Mataroa, would be the one on which they would embark on, in order to start their journey towards salvation. Nelly Adrikopoulou comments that '' the lucky ones who got the scholarship started to pack their stuff; books, manuscripts, typewriters, music records, clothes, all sort of stuff they where emotionally attached with.'' She continues by stating that ''we wanted to leave... for various reasons... each one of us had their own.''[10]

Early in the morning of the 22nd of December of the same year, Mataroa sailed from Peireus, Greece and arrived to Taranta port in Italy in the 24th. After the passengers disembarked they travelled by train during the night of the same day to Bologna (26th). At this point Nelly Adrikopoulou comments ''we were very hungry and it was very cold... When the train passed through the Swiss boarders I saw an intact world, untouched from the war and the hunger, with Christmas trees and snow all around.''[11] Finally, and after all sort of difficulties in the Swiss boarders they arrived in Paris at midnight, in the 28th of December.

At this point, we should probably say that not many things has been written for the ship Mataroa -as well as this particular journey; not even the omniscient Wikipedia has a single article regarding that ship. One could possibly find documents related to the background story and preparation of the aforementioned voyage, in the archive of the French Institute, in Athens. In addition to that, documentary material and digitized photographic post cards of the ship can be found through the website and online archive of the New Zealand's National Maritime Museum (NZNMM) and various other related web sites. Does that mean that Mataroa is not relevant? I think not. I, myself  am not a ships enthusiast -at least not before this project, neither I am particularly interested in the maritime history. But, I am interested in life and in the discourses that leeds people to the condition of being able to live their lives. Even if that is a literal journey -e.g. immigration- or an existential one -e.g. Psychoanalysis.

Everybody has or had in the past a family or a personal album. Everybody has a personal history. Is he or she aware of their discourse, of the sequence of the hidden meanings that lay beneath their everyday life and all sort of expressions of themselves. In fact, what drew me to the journey of this vessel in the first place, is the potential symbolism that this journey can acquire as well as the parallelism with a small existential trip that people embark on, in order to become really aware of themselves in order to live in a more conscious way, and therefore, potentially more free. And that potential is what consists salvation. Because today, 67 years later, we now know about Cornelius Castoriades, the internationally famous Marxist philosopher and writer of the Imaginary Institution of Society (1975) and many other theories and books and we are still studying in the cultural departments of -the Greek- Universities the history books written by Nikos Svoronos.

In conclusion, from the engineer's point of view, Mataroa was not literally what it can be described as a Liberty ship, but it can be seen as a 'liberty ship'. As a Passenger-cargo ship, she carried -at different moments in history- thousands of people including troops, men, women and children. As far as concerns the voyage of the 22nd of December in 1945, she saved the life of 200 young people by giving them the opportunity to escape and thus, to live their lives free; as they had dreamed of. She came to be the medium for individual salvation and therefore, freedom. As it is mentioned earlier on, 'a Liberty ship was designed to carry about 10,000 tons of cargo, but in wartime conditions often carried much more' than that.


Nikos Georgopoulos
London,
February 2012


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Notes.
1.  Unknown (2007) 'Capacity of one Liberty Ship' [Online]. American Merchant Marine at War. Available at: http://www.usmm.org/capacity.html [Accessed 10 February 2012]
2. Extremely worst than the current socioeconomic and debt crisis.
3. Adrikopoulou, Nelly (2007) The journey of Mataroa, 1945: The mirror of memory. Estia Publications : Athens. p55
4. The English language became the internationally spoken language after the war. Before this happened, French was the official language in the west as well as the official language of Diplomacy, of which still is.
5. Institute Francais d' Athenes (the French Institute in Athens) had each year around 600 applications for students to study in France, whereas the British Council around 200 at that time.
6. Octave Merlier (1897-1996), was born in France and studied at the Sorbonne and Ecole pratique des hautes etudes.
7. Due to the war, the scholarships for Greeks students to study in France were untouched. In that respect, Merlier asked the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assign him the current one as well as the previous ones. He gathered 50 scholarships each one per one academic year. He then, divided each one per 3 months of academic study. Τhe 200 scholars managed to stay in Paris because the universities wanted them.
8. Cornelius Castoriades (March 11, 1922 - December 26, 1997) was a Greek philosopher, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, and co-founder of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group.
9. Nikos Svoronos (1911-1989), was a Greek historian. In 1975, he was named Docteur des Lettres in Sorbonne. He served as course director in Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (IV Section) for the Institutional History of the Byzantine Empire.
10. Adrikopoulou, Nelly (2007) The journey of Mataroa, 1945: The mirror of memory. Estia Publications : Athens. p37
11. Adrikopoulou, Nelly (2007) The journey of Mataroa, 1945: The mirror of memory. Estia Publications : Athens. p102
 

Writing about writing; Record your experience of writing while writing -inspired by an essay of Villem Flusser[1] (posted on 13/2/12)

No one cares from an English speaking audience if your writing in your native language is captivating and emotional and creative because, they can only respond to what they see and what they hear from you, in English.

It's 6 o' clock in the afternoon and I am back in Athens for Christmas. Today is Tuesday, still not very confident writing in English. I suppose... I suppose it doesn't matter. So, what on earth could I write on such an abstract subject; 'Record in writing your experience of writing while writing'. If the first 'writing' was missing -for example if the brief was 'Record your experience of writing while writing'- I could elaborate and work on this project towards a different direction and I could work further on ideas such as creating a single-shot video or, a sound piece like Susan Stenger's 'Soundtrack for an exhibition'[2] or even, I could compose a musical piece which would reflect my own personal needs and experiences while writing -I could do that by setting a brief. Obviously, it must not interfere with the level of  attention needed for someone in order to write; it should last for a very long time -without frequent transitions and rests. Anyway, the task is quoted though the brief in a very clear and coherent way; 'Record in writing'.

At this point, I am starting slowly to realize that, whatever this... text -I am not sure if it can be seen as one- is, at the end of the day, it is a reflection of my experience on writing; recorded in writing; definitely while writing. Having said that though, I am not sure if I have to make any corrections and further editing to this 'text'[3], if I am supposed to present it as a text, a written essay or as a deliberate raw-written text towards writing. I think the latter is more interesting to me -having reached to this point- because it connects better with the sound scape I mentioned before and therefore, with exciting potential interpretations of the task. It is more provocative to me since a text elaborating on my experience of writing would mean to write an essay on writing. I think that a very good name for such an essay could be 'Essay on writing'. Other titles also could be 'Towards the experience of writing' or 'Thoughts on writing'. But the problem still remains; 'what kind of writing?' Are we talking about an article or a novel? A research paper or a critique? A poem or a play? Well, I suppose the answer to this question would be 'your experience of writing'; my experience of writing. No, it is not clarified.

Definitely not. -My mom is preparing dinner in the kitchen, my father just came back home and he is having a short nap and I am writing. Right now I felt a little bit weird because, I was asking myself about what it is that the brief asks by saying 'writing' -and I just realized that I am actually doing it. Neither we talk about an article nor a story; even though i could publish a book having written a story like that. Neither we talk about a research paper nor a critique; even though in the beginning of the.. text I am gently criticizing the abstract nature of the brief. Last but not least, neither we talk about a poem nor a play; even though it could be a theatrical monologue, similar to those plays which have some roots regarding their concept, on the avant-gards.

I think I know what it is; it is a collection of notes towards writing. A brainstorming. It is a monologue but I am not sure if it is a pure reflection of my 'working process' because, I know this is a project that probably each one of us will present at the studio, in front of our peers. It is similar to a situation where someone is in front of a camera, making a statement. During an interview. Partly, you are yourself but you are acting as well. It is like you directing the whole scene -by placing yourself in it, in a specific way. You guide your moves, your expression, your attitude in a way -or towards a way- of creating a character which of course is yours, but at the same time it is not exactly you; sitting at your desk, at 6 o' clock in the afternoon while your mom is preparing dinner and your father -who probably just got back from work- is having a short nap. It is spectacle and it is fascinating. It's branding; you improve and you use the best and most powerful and potentially more popular characteristics of your personality by editing their sequence, choosing their order, isolating expressions to create tension and, employing techniques in order to create what, as well as how other people will think of you.

I think it's the same. Don't know really. Doesn't matter either. 'No prior knowledge of Flusser's work is necessary in order to participate.'[4] That is the best title.

PS: In my view, 'record in writing your experience of writing while writing' means: 'Record your thinking while writing'.


1. Vilém Flusser (May 12, 1920 – November 27, 1991) was a Czech-born cultural theorist and a media philosopher. His early work was marked by discussion of the thought of Martin Heidegger, and by the influence of existentialism and phenomenology.

2. 'For 96 days in 2006, a continuous musical work by composer Susan Stenger formed the major part of a show in Lyon's Musee d' art contemporain, curated by Mathieu Copeland and entitled 'Soundtrack for an exhibition'. The long duration of the piece resonated with the exhibition's exploration of temporariness and process.

3. -'I did'

4. In the 10th of November, 2011, Sandberg Institute -part of the Rietvelt Academy- in Amsterdam hosted an introductory workshop to the thought of Vilem Flusser, entitled 'From the technical image to technoimagination in the universe of Vilem Flusser'. The main objective of the workshop is to introduce the participants to some of the main concepts that run through the work of Vilém Flusser and it will be run as a reading group focusing on three essays. The workshop's notice was reading:

''Essays:
1. Imagination
2. The Photograph as Post-Industrial Object; An Essay on the Ontological Standing of   Photographs
3. How Technoimagination Might Work (From Communicology)
No prior knowledge of Flusser's work is necessary in order to participate. 
Thursday 10.11.2011 from 10-2, 3-5 p.m. Sandberg Instituut, Fred. Roeskestraat 98 1076 ED Amsterdam.''


Nikos Georgopoulos
Athens,
December 2011.

Eternity is ephemeral (posted on 1/1/12, happy new year!)

'Eternity', 2010 / 78" x 96" x 3" / by Alicia Eggert & Mike Flening. Screen shot.

Eternity is an installation created by artists Alicia Eggert & Mike Flening in 2010 consisting of 30 electric clocks rear-mounted to a large sheet of white acrylic. The black hour and minute hands of the clocks are aligned to spell the word ‘eternity’, and the clocks are plugged in to a series of power strips on the floor. As soon as they begin moving, the word almost immediately becomes a jumble of moving black lines.

'Eternity', 2010 / 78" x 96" x 3" / by Alicia Eggert & Mike Flening. Screen shot.

'Eternity', 2010 / 78" x 96" x 3" / by Alicia Eggert & Mike Flening. Screen shot.

Source: Design boom
Read more here. 

Nikos Georgopoulos