Athens art: perplexing and provocative
Boxlike work leaves visitors scratching their heads
 | A security blimp is seen through Giorgos Gyparakis's work of "installation" art named "Urban Oasis" located in central Athens. |
Marcelo Del Pozo / Reuters |
Watch out!
“Watch out for what?” Mattias DeMol, visiting from Belgium, asks his friend. The two look at the box from every angle and then, like kids at a science museum, carefully look inside. Standing on one of the busiest squares in downtown Athens, and painted in attention-grabbing black-and-yellow stripes, it is hard to miss this…uh, what is it again?
In this sports town, installation art is everywhere. It lines the path going up to the Acropolis; it stands in the main squares and can even be found yards up on apartment balconies. By far the most appreciated piece stands in Monastiraki, a square surrounded by markets and a main metro stop. Pipes shaped to look like tree branches, spray a cooling mist on passers by, providing a much-needed relief from the sun.
Other pieces include a 10-foot long metal snake with a TV for an eye, a human-size, satin-covered pillow shaped like a very large woman and a glass box with scores of mini televisions on the bottom.
Olympic and Athens officials certainly didn’t waste the opportunity to bring culture to the masses. But couldn’t they at least tell us what we are looking at? With a small sign reading only the name of the piece and the artist’s name, organizers have left it to the visitor to put meaning into the art.
From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. the “Watch Out” box projects the viewer’s eye onto the building above, giving the effect that the eye is watching the city. Or so said a volunteer standing near the box. Part of an exhibition labeled “Catch the Light,” it is meant to increase the air of festivity around Athens during the Olympics.
“It’s original,” said DeMol, entranced by the box. “It really attracts your attention.”
To others, the purpose of the box was less obvious.
“Maybe it’s for security,” said Cleopatra Daskalaki, an Athens resident.
Her boyfriend, Nikos Barbalioboulos, 25, was less enthusiastic. “It’s just ugly,” he said.
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