November 2013

The in_Tension @ APhF:13 – Beton7

Photography as Performance

“The in-Tension” at Beton7, Center for the Arts
Curated by Demosthenes Agrafiotis & Andreas Pashias
Presented by epitelesis – Performance Art Foundation

Press release (pdf)

As a part of Athens Photo Festival 2013, “The in-Tension” (Performance as Photography) is an
exhibition curated by visual and performance artists Demosthenes Agrafiotis and Andreas Pashias.
By examining the fusion of artistic practices experienced in the contemporary cultural scene, this
exhibition brings forward the work of prominent international artists as a crucial effort to re-
evaluate the relationship of performance art and photography. In performance art, the duration
required to execute an artwork is ‘equal’ to the actual artwork. Photography is introduced in this
process, as an attempt to capture the artist’s corporeal existence or
its trace in action. The
‘tension’ between
these two artistic practices is brought forward
through the contrast of a
performance’s duration unfolding over a specific period of time and the photographic instance
capturing only one frame/moment of action. Therefore, the ephemeral dimension of performance
art is quoted by the resulting photograph, into a document of permanence. As a pictorial essay,
this exhibition proposes the detached photograph as autonomous artwork and presents it alongside
similarly treated artistic output.

The differences between the art of performance and the art of photography come in diverse
formats, so that the performance artist and the photographer can choose the elements on which
they can build convergences and divergences. These formats of ‘intention’ can be realized through
a photograph taken
during a live performance, a still image captured
from a video performance,
an image of the artist
taken in collaboration with a photographer or even a self-photographed
image of the artist. The relationship between the performer and the photographer is formulated
according to the structural elements of these ‘in-tensions’. As a result, this exhibition is based upon
the formats of producing artwork by a ‘hybrid creator’, that rises through the merging of an artist’s
body and a photographer’s camera lens.

Performance artists: Abel Azcona · Alastair MacLennan · Alexandros Plomaritis · Amalia
Charikiopoulou · Andreas Pashias · Bartolomé Ferrando · BBB Johannes Deimling · Boris Nieslony ·
Carlos Martiel · Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith · Demosthenes Agrafiotis · GRAAM · Grigoris
Semitecolo · Joseph Ravens · Julien Blaine · Katharina Kastl · Kurt Johannessen · Lala Nomada ·
Michel Collet · Monika Günther & Ruedi Schill · Pekka Kainulainen · Seiji Shimoda · Valentine
Verhaeghe

Photographers: Anne Lise Dehee · Daniel Häller · Dimitris Priftis · Fabrizio Garghetti · Jean Marc
de Samie · Jesse Clockwork · Jessica Smith · Jouko Vatanen · Juan Pablo Hoyos Ramírez · Kenny
Lemes · Manuel Vason · Mathias Pick · Miklos Legrady · Mishka Henner · Monika Sobczak · Rita
Rodrigues

Architectural Design: Melina Philippou

Opening: November 5th 2013, 20.00
Operating hours: Monday to Friday, 14.00-20.30 | Saturday, 14.00-18.00 | Closed on Sundays
Duration: November 5th –23rd 2013
Beton7, Center for the Arts | 7, Pydnas St. (Metro station “Kerameikos”| Votanikos)
Τel. : 210-7512625

The announcement at Beton7