Pendulum
2015 - 2017
Pendulum is the visual approach of a return journey to the city of L'Aquila in central Italy. In 2009 a strong earthquake destroyed the city and caused an open wound on its body. I moved there a few years after the disaster, in order to work as an architect in the reconstruction of the city, but in reality it was a return to the place where my parents met in 1977, to my fictitious roots. During my stay, I experienced the post-seismic terrain in a very bizarre way. The sense of familiarity I had developed in my fainted childhood memory collided with the uncanny new condition the city was in. The quake's vibrations and its resonance created a rupture in my memory. I tried to heal this rupture by capturing photographically its imprints and its aftermath, as a process of re-writing this place in my memory, as a personal quest to restore my relationship with L'Aquila.
Το έργο Pendulum είναι η οπτική προσέγγιση ενός ταξιδιού επιστροφής στην πόλη L'Aquila της κεντρικής Ιταλίας. Το 2009 ένας ισχυρός σεισμός κατέστρεψε την πόλη και άνοιξε μια πληγή στο σώμα της. Η μετακόμισή μου εκεί, μόλις λίγα χρόνια μετά το σεισμό, έγινε με αφορμή την αρχιτεκτονική μου ιδιότητα, έτσι ώστε να δουλέψω στην ανοικοδόμηση της πόλης. Στην πραγματικότητα, ήταν μια επιστροφή στις φαντασιακές μου ρίζες, στο μέρος όπου γνωρίστηκαν οι γονείς μου το 1977. Κατά την παραμονή μου, βίωσα το μετασεισμικό έδαφος με έναν αλλόκοτο τρόπο. Το οικείο της ξεθωριασμένης παιδικής μου μνήμης ήρθε σε μια ανοιχτή σύγκρουση με το ανοίκειο της νέας συνθήκης της πόλης. Ο απόηχος του σεισμού δημιούργησε ένα τράνταγμα στη μνήμη μου. Τα σημάδια του και τις συνέπειές του άρχισα να τα αποτυπώνω φωτογραφικά σαν μια διαδικασία επανεγγραφής του τόπου στη μνήμη μου, σαν την προσπάθεια αποκατάστασης της σχέσης μου με τη L'Aquila.
Pendulum book was self-published in Athens, Greece, in February 2019.
part of the following public and institutional collections:
Collection of Athens Photo Festival, Athens, Greece
Collection of Stereosis photographic school, Thessaloniki, Greece
Collection of MoMus Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece
Collection of the Photographic Group of Kavala, Greece
Collection of Zoetrope, Athens, Greece
Collection of Minimum, Palermo, Italy
Collection of Lucy Art Residency, Kavala, Greece
GrisArt School of Photography, Barcelona, Spain
Naxos Municipal Library, Greece
KAM Library, Chania, Greece
Cinematographic Section of POFPA, Athens, Greece
Collection of Athens Photo Festival, Athens, Greece
Collection of Stereosis photographic school, Thessaloniki, Greece
Collection of MoMus Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece
Collection of the Photographic Group of Kavala, Greece
Collection of Zoetrope, Athens, Greece
Collection of Minimum, Palermo, Italy
Collection of Lucy Art Residency, Kavala, Greece
GrisArt School of Photography, Barcelona, Spain
Naxos Municipal Library, Greece
KAM Library, Chania, Greece
Cinematographic Section of POFPA, Athens, Greece
EXHIBITIONS
Athens Photo Festival 17: Young Greek Photographers, Benaki Museum, Athens, 2017
Medphoto Festival 2018-2019: Critical Archives III: Identities, Rethymno, Crete, 2018
Athens Photo Festival 19: Young Greek Photographers | 2010-2018, Thessaloniki, 2019
Athens Photo Festival 19: Photobook Exhibition, Benaki Museum, Athens, 2019
Plateau034: An exploration of greek self-published photobooks, Zoetrope, Athens, 2019
Sikinos Vol.II, Athens Zine Biblioteque,
Athens Art Book Fair 2021
Le Livre Sur La Place, Palais de Gouvernement, Nancy, France, 2021
‘Pendulum’ at Palais de Gouvernement, Le Livre sur la Place, Nancy 2021
‘Pendulum’ at Benaki Museum, Athens 2017
‘Pendulum’ at MoMus Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki 2019
‘Pendulum’ book part of the exhibition PLATEAU 34, at Zoetrope, Athens 2019
‘Pendulum’ book at Athens Art Book Fair 2019EDITIONS
British Journal Photography, April 2021, EN
C41 Magazine Issue 8 - Memory, IT
‘Pendulum’ at C41 Magazine
Featuring: Daniel Everett, Studio Formafantasma, Daniel Eatock, Max Siedentopf, Fausta Bolettieri & Gianlorenzo Bolettieri, Leandro Erlich, Alecio Ferrari, Carlo Banfi, Andrea Chronopoulos, Greg White, Filippo Telaro, Ryan Duffin, Yuki Kappes, Laura Thompson, Stefania Orfanidou, Riccardo Fantoni Montana, Alberto Guerrini, Parker Day
The ‘blue veil’ from Pendulum book is featured in the April 2021 issue of British Journal Photography, where Cat Lachowskyj is mapping places related to the contemporary cultural scene of Athens.FEATURED IN
Aldebaran, GR
Then there was us, UK
Gup Magazine, BE
Kaltblut Magazine, DE
Kiosk der Demokratie, DE
News Town, IT
Lifo, GR
Phroom Magazine, IT
The Greek Foundation, GR
Virtu Quotidiane, IT
‘Pendulum’ at ‘Then there was us’, UK
INTERVIEWS
Urbanautica (by Georges Salameh), IT
Pellicola (by Costanza Francesconi), IT
Poli-K (by Giannis Kontos), GR
It’s Nice That (by Rebecca Irvin), UK
Beater (by Sofia Topi), GR
Photologio (by Kelly Andreadi), GR
A conversation with Costanza Francesconi at Pellicola Magazine
An interview by Rebecca Irvin at ‘It’s Nice That’
BOOK PRESENTATIONS
19-04-19 Stereosis School of Photography, Thessaloniki, GR
09-05-19 Grace, Athens, GR
26-09-19 Libreria Polarville, L’Aquila, IT
09-01-20 Stegi, Kavala, GR
23-11-22 Fahrenheit 451, Athens, GR
banner for ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ presentation at Fahrenheit 451
poster by Grace/Athens for ‘Pendulum’ presentation
presentation at GRACE, Athens (photo by Antonis Theodoridis and Michael Almyroudis)
poster for ‘Pendulum’ presentation at Polarville bookstore, in L’Aquila, Italy
presentation at Polarville bookstore, in L’Aquila, Italy (photo by Francesco Paolucci)
Pendulum at Polarville bookstore, L’Aquila, Italy
Pendulum book in progress, on Kostopoulos GA Printing House, in Athens