Aesthetics of Crisis. Political Street Art in Athens in the Context of the Crisis (2013) (original) (raw)
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Design | Arts | Culture, 2024
Bringing together researchers, theorists and visual artists, the fourth volume of DAC journal, "Narratives of Crisis: Representing Capitalist Realism", aims to provide a platform for discussions and research, which consider various aspects of the visual and its implication to both ideological formations and cultural forms related albeit not limited to the notion of crisis. The special issues (4:1, 4:2) are, in a way, a continuation of previous, relatively recent projects which the guest editor, Dr Penelope Petsini, has curated or organised, and all invited contributors have been involved in: The group exhibitions "Capitalist Realism: Future Perfect" and "Capitalist Realism: Past Continuous" (2018-19, held at MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and MOMus-Center of Experimental Arts, respectively), the eponymous book (University of Macedonia Press, 2018), as well as the conference "Representing Capitalist Realism: Crisis, Politics and the Visual" (23-24/11/2018, MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography & Rosa Luxemburg Foundation). Starting from this point, the issues aim to offer a comparative charting of the crisis discourse by adopting an inclusive definition of the term derived from new scholarship and the concept of "Capitalist Realism" as introduced by British theorist Mark Fisher: an ideological framework for perceiving capitalism's impact on politics, economics, and collective consciousness – encompassing both the spheres of economy and culture. Crucially, Capitalist Realism encapsulates the prevalent notion that not only is capitalism the sole feasible political and economic structure, but it has also become nearly inconceivable to imagine a coherent alternative. Part Two ("The Greek Crisis") is a collection of essays and visual explorations which present the multifaceted dimensions of the Greek Crisis, weaving together threads of cinema, art, literature, architecture, politics, and urban life. It includes articles, visual essays, portfolios and a review by: Anna Poupou; Nikolas Ventourakis; Depression Era collective; Paraskevi Kertemelidou; Maria Paschalidou; Maria Moira; Io Chaviara; Ioanna Barkouta; Yannis Karpouzis - Yorgos Karailias - Yorgos Prinos - Pavlos Fysakis (Grossraum); Myrto Marini; Dimitris Kechris.
The Greek crisis babushka: A crisis, within a crisis, within a crisis
The origins of the ongoing Greek crisis cannot be explained without taking into account several factors. We argue that the three main are the general context that caused it (the 2007 financial crisis), the failed modernization policies of the 1996-2009 period and the Eurozone architecture. The Greek crisis started in the greywater of the 2007 crisis and in conjunction with a number of weaknesses of the Greek economy and certain characteristics of the Greek social structure on the one hand as well as weaknesses of the European institutions and flaws in the architecture of Eurozone, who acted as an amplifier, on the other. We also emphasize on the role that concepts like Identity (or the lack of it) played. THE 2007 FINANCIAL CRISIS There are several contributing factors for the 2007 crisis, we will focus on the real estate and the loans that financed the sector. The financial innovations of late 90's and 00's fueled not 1 Panagiotis Manolakos is a sociologist, currently a PhD candidate (Panteion University, Department of Sociology, Athens, Greece). He mainly focuses on economic and industrial sociology and especially on crisis, 4 th industrial revolution, specialization in work and transitions inside capitalism.
The Derma of Crisis: Imagining Athens in Crisis as an Urban Collage
Revista Lusófona de Estudos Culturais / Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2021
A close look at the urban surfaces of Athens during the years of the economic crisis reveals the extensive phenomenon of the people's interaction with the surface of the cityscape, the skin of Athens. A derma of crises that reflects Greece's socio-political conditions over this period, and the austerity measures enforced by the official state. This rapidly transformed and ever-changing surface imagery can be recorded and used for reading and further understanding of how the public sphere responds to this period of decline, and reacts to the recession's strategies of sovereignty. The urgency to document, give prominence to this urban field and examine it as a whole is of pivotal importance, considering the fact that the official authorities (such as the mayor of Athens) have recently taken action to eliminate the urban traces. However, these inscriptions bear witness to the continuous crisis mirrored on the Athenian walls and architectural volumes. Over the last years, there have been numerous scholars and researchers that have engaged with the study of the Athenian cityscape. Nonetheless, they particularly focus on graffiti, street art and slogans, and this engagement sometimes facilitates the emerging artistry or the discussion of socio-political connotations. In contrast to this, this article moves towards the identification of the phenomenon as a dynamic potential of a derma-city skin and does not specifically focus on them as mere details (often intentionally made, e.g. a graffiti). It examines the wholeness, the anonymity, the unintentional activity; how they contribute to the formulation of an urban collage, an assemblage of visual elements that co-exist making Athens a unique case of an over-marked city. The study of various dimensions of this skin and of the virtual preservation means aims to add a further layer of understanding to the urban space as a main field of socio-political connotations during the crisis.