Salvage dig (ELEYSIS)
2018

materials:
installation: performance, video, audio
sculpture: polyurethane foam, chicken-wire, plaster
video projection dimensions: 2 x 0,9 m
performance & video duration: 7min
sculpture dimensions: various, when complete 2 x 1,6 m
performers: Costas Schinas and Lydia E. Vairaktaraki

Salvage Dig is a modular sculpture video/performance work based on the wider area and history of the Thriasian Plain, once considered the granary of Attica and now largely transformed into an industrial and concrete landscape.
The work takes the form of a scaled topographic model of the area, divided into nine parts in reference to the nine days of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The deviation of the topographic in pieces follows contemporary roads, movement axes and significant sites, bringing together ancient memory and present-day fragmentation.
During the performance, two smaller pieces are removed: the archaeological site of Eleusis and a local climbing field, both understood as rare remaining points of historical, spiritual or embodied connection to the land. Accompanied by re-ordered subtitles from Nikos Gatsos’ lyrics for The Nightmare of Persephone, the work reflects on what remains when a place loses its continuity between earth, memory, use and meaning.

artwork by: Costas Schinas and Lydia Vairaktaraki