information
PASSAGE (2016)
The history of stone bridges in Greece and the Balkans is interwoven with people’s beliefs in supernatural powers which determine their founding. The master-craftsman must pay tax to an undefinable power, so that he will be allowed to get across. For the natural powers to be tamed, a sacrifice is needed. But even after the founding of the bridge, danger lurks. Often, they used to hang a bell at the highest point of the bridge. When the bell sounded, due to stormy wind, it emitted a sign of danger, a warning that the passage of the bridge could not be made in safety, a limit that humans should not overstep.
The video-sound installation “Passage” is based on local narratives describing the effort of the master-craftsman as an attempt of conciliation with nature. The sound from the suspended bell, at the arch of the construction, seemed to bridge this dialogue. The sonic pause – latency as an expression of calm acted as freedom of crossing, as human predominance. The work calls the viewer to symbolically oppose the dominant “calm”. It constitutes an urge towards vigilance.
biography
Panagiotis Vorrias
Panagiotis Vorrias was born in Kalamata, Greece, in 1983. He graduated Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and Master of Fine Arts (ASFA) with the grade “excellent”. He participated in group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He received Scholarship of State Scholarship Foundation and in 2014 was nominee for the HYam award for Young Mediterranean Artist. In 2013 participated in National Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition “Afresh” and in 16th Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean with group PER SE. In 2019 he was selected to Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Award (SNF Artworks). In 2022 he won the 2nd prize in the competition «PPC Meets Art». His artworks are in collections in Greece and abroad. Since 2013 is member of the art group “PER SE”. He lives and works in Athens.
Panos Kompis
Born in 1982, the Greek visual artist Panos Kompis is currently based in Athens.
He studied Conservation of Paintings at a private institute and graduated in 2002. He continued his studies at the Athens School of Fine Arts graduating with distinction in 2007 and moved on to study for a postgraduate degree in Visual Arts which he acquired in 2012. Since 2013 he has been a member of the visual arts group ‘Per Se’.
He has participated in a number of group exhibitions in Greece and abroad such as: STILL HERE TOMORROW [Stavros Niarchos Foundation 2019], 6th Thessaloniki Biennale [the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki 2017], DIA- [Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens in 2014], 16th Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean [Ancona 2013], Against all Odds PROJECT ETHICS/AESTHETICS [Benaki Museum in Athens 2011]. He currently works as a freelance visual artist and as an Arts teacher in the Greek education system.