PCAI Collection artist Kyriaki Goni will be participating in the exhibition Modern Love at EMST (National Museum of Contemporary Art), with the video work The Portal or Let’s stand still for the whales (2020) of the PCAI Collection. The artwork was commissioned by PCAI in 2020 on the occasion of the online exhibition Anthropocene on hold, curated by Kika Kyriakakou. This 3D animation video is dedicated to other than human worlds that were able to breathe freely throughout this period of the pandemic. As if following two different timelines, the narration describes the struggle of humanity to adapt to these peculiar times and at the same time the thriving of other ecosystems due to the slowdown of human activities. Addressing an imaginary, future inhabitant of the planet earth, the narration attempts to reveal the intensity of the environmental crisis, which is actually a humanitarian crisis and the urgency of taking action immediately. As ecosystems within ecosystems, we need to start working on new kinds of understanding, of care and proximity towards other humans and other-than-humans.
Modern Love exhibition, curated by Katerina Gregos, focuses on digital technology and its influence on intimate human relationships. The subtitle of the exhibition is a reference to Eva Illouz’s book, Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism, which argues that these relationships have become increasingly defined by economic and political models of bargaining, exchange, and equity. Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies) explores the state of love and human bonds in the age of the Internet, social media, and high capitalism, probing how the digital sphere, the impact of technology giants, and neo-liberal practices have transformed love, social relations, and the way we interact with one another.
The product of ongoing research, the exhibition features 24 artists from 14 countries including PCAI Collection artist Eva Papamargariti along with Kyriaki Goni. The exhibition comes to Greece after presentations at the Museum für Neue Kunst (Germany), Tallinna Kunstihoone (Estonia), IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture] and Centraal Museum (Netherlands). For the exhibition at EMΣT Athens, Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies) has been expanded to additionally include Greek as well as international artists, most of whom are presenting their work for the first time in Greece.
Image: The Portal or Let’s stand still for the whales (2020), PCAI Collection ©Kyriaki Goni
More information here
Activity aligned with Goals 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
