The history of stone bridges in Greece and the Balkans is interwoven with people’s beliefs in supernatural powers which determine their founding. The master-craftsman must pay tax to an undefinable power, so that he will be allowed to get across. For the natural powers to be tamed, a sacrifice is needed. But even after the founding of the bridge, danger lurks. Often, they used to hang a bell at the highest point of the bridge. When the bell sounded, due to stormy wind, it emitted a sign of danger, a warning that the passage of the bridge could not be made in safety, a limit that humans should not overstep.

The video-sound installation “Passage” is based on local narratives describing the effort of the master-craftsman as an attempt of conciliation with nature. The sound from the suspended bell, at the arch of the construction, seemed to bridge this dialogue. The sonic pause – latency as an expression of calm acted as freedom of crossing, as human predominance. The work calls the viewer to symbolically oppose the dominant “calm”. It constitutes an urge towards vigilance.

Exhibition:ART | NON ART, RE-Culture 4, Skagiopouleio Center – Argyri Market – Former Municipal Baths, cur. Thanasis Moutsopoulos, Patras, Greece, 2016