2012 - Absense

This exhibition was hosted in the two galleries of the Hellenic American Union and consisted of three sections. The first included paintings and a video, the second one a ‘conversation’ between two videos and the third an interactive installation. In this project the issue of ‘absence’ is addressed but not in the sense of a physical absence like death or separation but instead the absence into presence.

Exhibition curator: Louiza Karapidaki

The implementation of multimedia was made by Jonas Katrakazos who also designed and constructed the interface of the exhibition theme for the third section -interactive installation- with the use of the ‘arduino’ microcontroller.

Within the framework of the exhibition, a conference and an evening of poetry were held with the same subject.

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section Ι

paintings and video

abscence 02

section ΙΙ

the conversation between two videos

abscence 03

section ΙΙΙ

interactive installation

meeting

day conference

 

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evening of poetry

 

they wrote...

The absence is the imprint of a presence. It refers to it and it cannot exist without it. If a presence has not existed before, we cannot talk about absence but only about extinction. Absence is the trace, the minimum trace of a presence, it is structured by it. So, the loss of what existed is stated before we start talking about its absence.

Thanassis Hatzopoulos

they wrote...

The exhibition ‘Absence’ of Konstantina Katrakazou, discusses ‘absence’ conceptually, mainly as the lack / gap of presence. Using various expressive media (sounds, images, speech, and movement) with the help of modern technology and the power of her personal artistic expression, she causes associations, stimulates emotions and confronts us with another dimension in the concept of ‘absence’.

Louisa Karapidaki

they wrote...

The tension created by the absence operates in various ways. Absence (Ab-(es) sence) can stand as an attraction, prompting emotions like nostalgia or love; the possibility of its recovery is paving the way for the return journey or the search for the other or the being. On the other hand, the vacuum left by the absence, and the possibility of the postponement of its cancellation, cause feelings of lack, deprivation and loss, which lead to melancholy, despair and mourning.

Fay Zika