The first chapter of this collaborative ongoing process was started in spring 2022, when Violetta met Lily during her artist residency in Athens. Together, they begun retracing the lost flow of Ilisos river, unpacking its charged history and collecting stories and thoughts around it. 

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Living on two spots along the old and new flow of the river Ilissos, the artists began a personal journey, trying to encounter the „ghost“ river. By walking towards each other, they met in the middle, at the St. Foteini of Ilissos, the only place where the ancient river banks are visible; This place became their regular meeting spot.

 

Reflecting on the dominance of Google Maps in the way that it profoundly shapes the perception of a place, the two artists have created an intervention on Maps, challenging what is allowed to be mapped and how, as well as the uniformity of information. By creating a ‘ghost’ gmail account called Potamos Ilissos (the river Ilissos) they trace the route of the river along the map, by creating pins as Landmarks. These pins correspond to the places where they have been together, and contain images, thoughts, emotions, and memories in the form of descriptions, reviews and star ratings, as a way to embed personal experience in the system. 

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Site research and intervention on Google maps

6 channel video installation

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The flow can be found here: ​​https://goo.gl/maps/ivpyJCmEBzXZnBXh6

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Presented in:

Part 1: State of Concept, Athens (GR), 2022

Part 2: Neue Galerie Graz (AT), 2022/23

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