For the making of the  artwork series that are proposed for exhibition, the trigger were the remains of the burnt piano of the University of Macedonia, that is the much-discussed musical instrument that was destroyed under unknown conditions in May 2012. The incident was a black spot in the University’s history, while the “carcass” of the once-great musical instrument was lying unclaimed in storage. Utilizing remains that had been banished from recent collective memory, the “sculpture” that was created with the least possible interference is now standing at the reception lobby of the University, reminding us of its previous form, being a symbol against violence in University grounds, a monument that will essentially activate art against violence.

 

The artwork series essentially continuates the burnt piano’s logic. The series consists of three constructions-installations that, starting from the musical instrument’s remnants that have not eventually been integrated in the final form of the foyer’s permanent work, explore the relationship between violence and damage.

 

Along with that, the works try to expand the initial questioning, attempting to escape the incident’s limits, and mobilizing more extensive interventions on the piano’s remnants, to construct a wider discourse on violence and collective memory. The axis that defines the point of view with which the work is perceived is the experience of the viewer, who is called upon to select his/her role in relation to each construction.

 

Hence, in the first construction the viewer is provoked to reach his/her limits. Two pedals with embedded sharp metal cones are adapted on the piano tuning lid, inviting the viewer to press them; should s/he attempt so, s/he will test the limits s/he can reach in terms of violence, and in terms of damage.

 

A gigantic drum constitutes the core of the second construction; a “deafening” instrument, due to its size alone. The viewer is being offered weights dangling from the ceiling, via a wheel, in order to activate them, to make the instrument vocal. The weight proceeds to strike the membrane, but at that point the deconstruction of the instrument is taking place. In spite of the anticipation generated, the drum ultimately leaves the viewer stunned, as the drum doesn’t produce any sound, it being mute. On the drum are being presented burnt keys and strings, hammers and levers, all of them remnants of the monumental piano’s internals. In this “archive” that is being created out of relationships and forms that are presented, the “soul” of the instrument is represented synoptically, namely by all the micromechanisms that used to make it work.

 

In the last installation, the piano’s soundboard is juxtaposed to a construction made of wood, which largely refers to the form of the catapult; a disarmed catapult in waiting, with the curved metal sheets “hiding” the potential tension against the piano’s remnant. This synthesis is based on revealing a very fine balance, presenting an old cannonball, standing baseless on the wooden board. Through the reuse of humble historical remains, the installation is activating objects that history has discarded. The unexpected standing of the cannonball on the sloped plane is creating insecurity inside the observer, a stance that is representing in a way the antithesis, and the fragile balance between memory and garbage, history and contemporary urban culture. This is reinforced by the archive of ancient matchboxes, which, arrayed as a “timeline”, is attempting to evolve into a memory aid. The obvious connection with the University of Macedonia’s piano arson is being widened to state a more general commentary on imprinting the violence in collective and, by extension, in historical memory.