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Locus Solus

Benaki Museum, Athens
Curator: Sozita Goudouna

I was asked to respond to the idea of the labyrinth and I concentrated on the mythical story of Theseus’ slaying of the Minotaur. The golden thread given by Ariadne enabling Theseus to exit the labyrinth becomes an object of mystical energy which has been moulded into the shape of a brain. This energy was suspended within the space, beautifully framed by Martin Sexton’s death mask of Socrates

The directorial approach and architectural design of the final stage of the project, Locus Solus III, at the Benaki Museum was inspired by Michel Foucault’s analysis of Roussel’s work in the book Death and the Labyrinth:The World of Raymond Roussel(http://vimeo.com/16502937}. The architectural installation was a labyrinth, inspired by the Palladian villa, based on symmetry and perspective. The walls of the thirty-six rooms (laboratories) in the labyrinth are replaced by proscenium-arch curtains, that shape thirty-six stages. The curtain frames the viewer’s presence in the installation. The art pieces and exhibits confront each other over the notion of theatricality – the construction of scenic space, the stage and the duration of the experience. The ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ becomes a theatrical exhibition where the audience is both a spectator and a performer walking inside the cabinets/stages. The role of the spectator is transformed into a structural element of the work.