Opening: Thursday, July 14, 17.00 - 21.00
Exhibition Duration: July 14 – 29, 2022
Zoumboulakis Galleries Contemporary, 20 Kolonaki Square
Opening hours: Tue., Thu. & Fri. 11.00 - 20.00
Wed. & Sat. 11.00 - 15.00 Sundays & Mondays closed
Zoumboulakis Galleries is pleased to invite you to the exhibition “Fire in the Lake” by Eleni Mylonas. Along with the central projection of a 13 minute performance-for-the-camera video, the artist will present an in situ installation and photographic works. “Fire in the Lake” is a comprehensive narrative about the enormous impact of Climate Change worldwide.
“Fire in the Lake” video was launched online in January 2022 and has been officially selected to participate at the “Vaasa International Wildlife Film Festival” in Finland and the International festival of short films “short to the point” in Budapest.
Mylonas writes: “I walked down to the sea shore to take a swim on an August afternoon and I saw strange objects floating on the surface. I dipped my hand in and brought up a handful of burned wood shards. A thick black pulp was covering the sea as far as the eye could see. It was an alien apocalyptic sight. I photographed and video recorded the scene and I gathered several sacks of black pulp, pine cones, sticks and an assortment of other incinerated objects. I brought this material back to my studio and I created a mandala as a monument to the losses suffered from the wild fires, now a familiar worldwide event. The classification of the objects composing the installation is reminiscent of a museum display or perhaps of a burial ground of fallen soldiers. The work was completed during the performance for the camera coming full circle with the ominous destruction of the mandala itself.”
The video opens with a Sanskrit hymn from Rig Veda sang by Eleni Mylonas to the God Ganesh, who blesses all new beginnings. The chant towards the end, N’at, is an ode to Mohamed sang in Farsi by a traditional Afghan singer, recorded by UNESCO in the 1960s.
The title is borrowed from the oracle of Hexagram #49 of the I Ching Fire in the lake: The image of Revolution. Necessary action: Transformation.
Conceived and performed by Eleni Mylonas
Editing and sound design by Stefanos Bertakis
Camera: Theodore Mihopoulos & Stefanos Bertakis
Drone operator: Vassilios Vafeiadis
Color Correction: Giorgos Kolios
Production Assistant: Georgia Lale