Open Workshop / Discussion
At Foyer Hub 1

We will present a brief overview of the concept of "toxic enclosures", citing examples from contemporary history in which invisible linkages between sites and objects of contamination have succeeded in creating a "toxic commons".

The growth of these areas throughout the world has formed a porous barrier through which people may pass, but not without taking a bit of contamination with them as it penetrates their corporeal encasement, thus shortening life expectancy (while potentially enriching the quality of their lives). It is the ultimate toll for crossing a barrier.

Ancient Greek mystery cults and technology will be paralleled to contemporary religious and industrial practice. The long lineage of Gods and mortals from antiquity to present will be explored, tracing chthonic and often mirroring personas such as Plouto (Underworld) and Ploutos (Wealth) or Demeter (de-meter / mother earth) and her daughter Persephone (pherein-phonon / to bring death). Participants will explore (hands-on) some of the benefits and ill effects of confrontations between inactivity/radioactivity, mortality/divinity, remedy/poison.

Tales of toxicity will be interwoven with mythology and possible ancient anti-solutions which are now being used to combat the toxicity and will influence our future civilisations.

The Enclosures of New Athens workshop, which took place in November 2014, illuminated the subsumptuous tunnels of exploration down which we'll journey in the relative safety of our TBM (tunnel boring machine) during this session.

Requirements: Bring your geiger counters.

With Jeffrey Andreoni and James Lane

Jeffrey Andreoni: At the age of three Jeffrey Andreoni received his first memory. He was being chased. He saw it was his brother chasing him. He jumped under a table for safety but hit his eye on the leg of the table because he was no longer small enough to slide gracefully under it as he had at an earlier age. It was his birthday. Everyone at the party stared in horror as the birthday boy got up crying from under the table with a massive black eye. He blew out the candles in tears.

James Lane: James Lane is a Greek-born visual artist based in Athens, Greece currently utilizing transmedia, photography, video and performance. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions including the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece, Freud’s Dreams Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, ACG Gallery at the American College of Greece, DESTE Foundation, Athens, Greece, Megaron Music Hall Athens, Beton7, Athens, Greece, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Athens, Greece. At the core of the artist’s interests is the investigation of new strategies to draw parallels between current and past territories, fusing the mundane to the unearthly or the trivial to the orphic.