Liquid Soul was an in situ installation created by Serapis Maritime on the occasion of the All Souls Day II exhibition in Rodeo, Piraeus. The video documentation of the work, supported by PCAI, was produced by Rodeo and the production house 8 ½ Pausilypon Films and can be seen on **PCAI’s vimeo channel**.
The 16′ 43″ video documents the preparation, installation and realisation of the in situ work Liquid Soul created by Serapis Maritime that took place in Piraeus in May 2019, at the abandoned 84 meters high tower that dominates the area of the port since its construction in 1972. The tower was built by the architects Vikelas, Molfesis and Loizos and the engineer Aristarchos Economou. A symbol of the development of Greece at the time as well as the port’s, the Tower of Piraeus was an ambitious undertaking that as opposed to many other edifices of its time were in operation then and are now in decline, this building was never finished. For the first time in its history, it was used for hosting an artwork and all the twenty-two floors were activated from within for the transmission of the symbolic act Liquid Soul. The already existing monument, that unintentionally has become the symbol of the unrealized dreams of great humans that worked hard for the reconstruction of the country but also its post-junta decline, became a double monument with the act of Serapis. It was an honor and a dedication to the history of this port and the relationship of the liquid element with commerce, the soul of Piraeus and the people behind the world and the work of shipping but also a spiritual push towards the future. Liquid Soul was an extension of the exhibition All Souls Day, Part II that took place at Rodeo, Piraeus from April 5 and closed on June 1 whereas Liquid Soul remained ‘on’ until December.
During the course of the exhibition Serapis Maritime, on May 3 and in collaboration with the Municipality of Piraeus and the ‘Days of the Sea’ festival inaugurated the iconic outdoor installation on the central monument of the city of Piraeus. An homage to the history of the port and in relation to the liquid element and all the workforce that define the power this port used to be and still is somehow through the changes it is subjected to. Through this gesture they aspired to a spiritual movement towards the future. In coproduction with the Municipality of Piraeus and the Days of the Sea, SECCMA Trust and those who wished to remain anonymous, Rodeo organized a small cruise in the port after the sunset where the inauguration of the work took place. The video, titled PS. SOUL produced by the production house 8 ½ Pausilypon Films, encapsulates the area around the tower, with the markets still active and its local people, the current souls of Piraeus, as well as the tenants of the building, the various associations and social clubs the Municipality of Piraeus had let to the first two floors of the building that were in use. The building’s state of decay and decades of negligence that longed for a time of enlightenment is evident in the video while amidst all the spirits of Serapis Maritime are preparing the piece. The moments from the rehearsal of the piece also capture the city at night and its religious activities leading towards Easter, the processions in the street, the psalms and the passers by. Footage from a small gathering at Rodeo, on May 3 2019, the meeting point that lead to a procession and then on to a small local cruise boat where a small crowd of friends and believers gathered to experience the inauguration of what was until then a secret. A short count down that followed a ride amidst the port’s diverse and sometimes surreal landscape, revealed LIQUID SOUL, that is to stay in ours as well as the city’s hearts forever.