History Zero (2013), a film and an archive.
History Zero, A Film in Three Episodes (2013), Three-chanel video installation. ARRI Alexa 2K, image 2.39:1, Audio surround 5:1. Duration of each episode 11 min.
Alternative Currencies An Archive and a Manifesto (2013), Architectural installation of Rotunda, 32 pinewood panels, silkscreen on pinewood, T-Lights.
The film depicts the experiences of three people, with very different conceptions of the value of money; a young immigrant from Africa wanders around in the streets of Athens pushing a supermarket trolley and collecting scrap metal; a foreign artist that visits Athens seeking inspiration for a new artwork in the confusing landscape of the city; and an elderly art collector who suffers from dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and lives all alone in her museum-like house surrounded by works of contemporary art. The film’s narrative explores the effect that monetary exchange can have in human relations and the political and social implications.
The accompanying selection of archival materials Alternative Currencies An Archive And A Manifesto, provides examples and evidence of alternative non-monetary exchange systems, focusing on the ability of such models to erode or put in question the homogenizing political power of common currency, and the ways in which communities function in relation to the exchange of goods in difficult times.
The combination of the archive and films attempts to look at our relationship to money poetically, putting it in a broader philosophical perspective and brings together the diverse culture that surrounds economic exchange whilst challenging the social, political and performative aspect of alternative currency models.
Commissioned by Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports for the Pavilion of Greece at the 55th International Art Exhibition–la Biennale di Venezia, Venice 2013.
For more information www.historyzero.gr
History Zero (2013), Installation views, Greek Pavilion, Giardini La Biennale di Venezia