Title:

HAUNT ME

This work explores nostalgia for a never-existing past, subjective narratives and romanticised innocence.

An octagonal kiosk situated next to the lake of Ioannina city is converted into a black and white kids spinning lamp through rotating projections activated by the movement of passers-by. Juxtaposing the sedation and the warm feeling of revisiting a child’s bedroom within the (often hostile) public space with the content of the projections, questions on dominant narrations of history, uncanniness and trauma are raised. The animated kiosk immerses you in a sweet nightmare resurfacing fears and desires of a lost home. 

This work is inspired by a testimony, chosen from a wider collection of oral narrations of the citizens of Ioannina, of life during the civil war through the eyes of a child.

Palimpsest consists of an invisible (till is activated) extra layer in the city of Ioannina which allows for the archived narrations of the citizens to be explored in multiple ways.

HAUNT ME is based on a story of a child at the time of the civil war where, when he and his siblings lost their parents, he was transferred to an orphanage. There, being so upset by the whole experience he put both his feet in one trouser leg. He concludes by saying that a girl from his village managed to help him since his siblings were all spread in different institutions. In current times, nostalgia is thriving as a resort from everyday difficulties. However, painful stories of this kind reveal how the past is often a construct which glorifies a unified experience. The testimony, on which this work is based, focuses on the perspective of a subject that the officially written history does not promote while the seemingly funny incidents described hide nightmarish facts. Since my personal work explores the creation of atmospheres in digital and physical environments, HAUNT ME recreates, through a symbolic gesture, a child’s bedroom, questioning our preconceptions on innocence and the carefree feeling of being young.

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Supported by:

European Regional Development Fund.

GR-IT Interreg project (2018-2020):

Palimpsest

Curators:

Xenophon Bitsikas, Polyxeni Mantzou

Materials:

Laser Cut on Canson paper, 3d Printing, Arduino Board, Motors, Led Lights