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In the Studio work: no water (χωρις νερο) stage documented: The tests/experiments leading to the drawing method applied during the intervention location: Athens, my backyard dates documented: March 16-22, 2015 In the ten days preceding the intervention/performance of March 26 in the streets of Athens I devised the method and came up with the tools used for the creation of the ephemeral drawings on the city pavements. Here I present the day to day process and the series of tests and experiments that took place in my back yard at my home in the center of Athens.  Part of the photographic documentation of the intervention in downtown Athens, March 26, 2015. Photography: Christina Georgiadou March 16 - day 1 This was the first day of my experiments. My objective was to find the best method to create an ephemeral drawing on the city pavements, using the stencil technique. My backyard seemed like the ideal place for this work. My first choice of material was powdered pigment in black, pretty much the same material I had been using in the drawings Improvisations of Metamorphosis. 4 pm   Soon I realized that the contrast between the black powder and the underlying surface wouldn't be adequate for the drawing to be visible. March 17 - day 2 Talking with a friend about materials I could use for the work I learned about the Indian tradition of Kolam: Indian women make a drawing in flour in front of their houses every morning. The drawing is supposed to bring good fortune to the house. Having rejected the black powdered pigment idea, I carried on experimenting with flour and baking powder. 10:30 am  The phrase "This too will pass, 30-7-44" written in baking powder. I found that the material was too light and failed to fall straight through the holes of the stencil at the desired place. Instead, it flew away while falling creating an "aura" around the design. 11:30 am  This is among the first flour experiments. I immediately knew when I saw the effect that I had probably found my material. The contrast showed potential, but needed to improve.  In the beginning I was only using my handmade perforated stencils to apply the design.  My friend had also mentioned an alternative material, a more finely ground form of flour: Nizeste. I was curious, and tried that too, but found out that it gave an unreliable and unstable outcome. March 18 - day 3 In search of a stronger effect I started applying flour with my fingers, in a way that resembled that of the Indian women, in order to achieve greater contrast and a stronger effect. 7 am  The phrase "I call for water" drawn in flour  11 am I carried on with the generous application of flour over the doted design created with the use of the stencil   The sunlight was hitting the drawing in a way that intensified the effect of the flour texture on the tile surface.   I liked the antithesis created by the flour's softness on the concrete surface 1:30 pm I attempted to mimic the particular way in which the Indian women let the flour flow between their fingers when they are drawing in flour. More out of curiosity and to challenge myself, since it takes years for them to master the technique and I only had some days. Naturally there wasn't much success but it was fun.   8 pm  Ι noticed that even with a little surrounding light, the flour was almost glowing during the night, which meant that my drawings would be partially visible on the city pavements after sundown. March 20 - day 4 I had an idea: I would design a flour pen to use as a writing tool in order to be able to achieve more accuracy in my drawings. Why shouldn't flour be made to flow in a way similar to the way ink flows from a regular pen? This is how the flour pen experiments started. But before I made my first pen, the day broke with the sight of a guest on one of the drawings. 6:30 am  When I woke up I noticed a snail was feeding off the flour from the letter Z of the phrase "I call for water". In India, when creatures fed off the flour of their drawings it is a sign that their home is blessed by the gods. 10:50 am I began entertaining the idea of freehand drawing  "I call for water" drawn freehand using the first version of the makeshift flour pen   The first version of the flour pen 1 pm     Testing the results given by the flour pen by writing the phrase, carved in the Memorial Site's second basement, "Katina and Filio, unjustly imprisoned" 1:30 pm Experimenting with an advanced version of the flour pen engineered in a way that prevented the flour from spilling from the pen's rear end.   I immediately felt this one gave me more control over the process.   March 21 - day 5 Carob meal & flour experiments I remembered I had a package of carob meal in my pantry that never got to be used for cooking. I had the idea to use it for drawing on a splash of flour, taking advantage of its contrasting color. The passers-by in a big city are usually in a hurry and absorbed in their own thoughts and I needed to generate a more intense effect in order to make them notice. 10 am  The result from applying the carob meal on the flour with the use of the stencil. The phrase reads "Innocent 1-9-44"   Close ups of the drawing I liked the doted lines' effect aesthetically but had to decide against it in order to take full advantage of the carob meal's contrasting values. So I started using the flour pen to pour streams of carob meal over the dotted design created with the stencil on the flour surface. As the pointy tip of the pen carved into the surface of the flour releasing the flowing material of the carob meal, it felt like a strange re-enactment of the deatinees' process of carving their messages on the prison walls.     The idea to use a contrasting material like the carob meal came when, as can be seen on the drawing in the right, I had the impulse to "carve" into the flour surface. The effect, and the feeling, was not satisfying which led to the use of the carob meal, applied first by stencil and then by pen, "carving" into the flour surface. noon  Observing the drawing's interaction with light I made me think further about its possible conotations   2 pm       March 22 - day 6 That day something unexpected happened: It rained. The drawings were still in the backyard from the previous day and I was able to observe the way they, and some other drawings I got to make that day, were transformed by the rain. 6:30 am  When I woke up, I was pleased to see that the drawing was somewhat glowing in the dim early morning light 2 pm  That day I also tried freehand with carob meal on flour   3:10 pm The rain effect      3:25 pm The effect as the rain progressed    The day of the intervention was a rainy one as well, luckily with intervals, as the technique cannot be applied under heavy rain. Paradoxically, the menace of the rain hanging over our heads (Christina and Yannis were there with me) proved to be a good thing, adding a sense of suspense and the element of lurking danger, both of which in a way connected to the work's meaning.
By the end of the intervention, across from the Parliament, the rain was pouring. It was like my call for water was being answered leading to a form of Catharsis. Follow the links bellow for the text, the photographic documentation, and a short video on the seven hour intervention (the second link provides the project's documentation in Greek): no water χωρις νερο Comments are closed.
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