«Και Αυτό Θα Περάσει» - ''This Too Shall Pass" (Photos from Spray Vision project, Athens Graffiti culture)

Αυτή είναι μία ιστορία που εμφανίζεται μπroστά μου και αντηχεί στην ζωή μου κατά καιρούς τα τελευταία χρόνια. Την μετέφρασα και την μεταφέρω εδώ, μαζί με αυτές τις εικόνες (από το έργο μου για το Γκράφιτι στους δρόμους της Αθήνας) Μπορεί οι φωτογραφίες να μην έχουν άμεση σχέση με την ιστορία,, έχουν όμως σχέση με την παροδικότητα των πραγμάτων...
This is a story that appears and resonates into my life from time to time the last years. the photos are from my project on Graffiti culture in Athens. There is no imediate connection between the story and the photos, but street art encompasses the spirit of impermanence...(scroll down for the english original version)

                               «Και αυτό θα περάσει»

Υπήρχε ένας βασιλιάς που είπε μια φορά κι έναν καιρό στους σοφούς της αυλής του: Έχω ένα δαχτυλίδι με ένα από τα καλύτερα διαμάντια του κόσμου και θέλω να κρύψω ένα μήνυμα κάτω από τη πέτρα, το οποίο μπορεί να φανεί χρήσιμο σε εποχή απόγνωσης. Θα δώσω αυτό το δαχτυλίδι στους κληρονόμους μου και θέλω να τους υπηρετήσει πιστά. Βρείτε ένα μήνυμα να χαραχθεί κάτω από το διαμάντι. Χρειάζεται να είναι μικρό για να χωρέσει στο δαχτυλιδι.

Οι σοφοί γνώριζαν πώς να γράψουν διατριβές αλλά δεν μπορούσαν να εκφραστούν σε μία βραχεία πρόταση. Προσπαθήσαν σκληρά αλλά δεν μπόρεσαν να βρούνε τίποτα. Ο βασιλιάς παραπονέθηκε για την αποτυχία του τολμήματός του σε έναν πιστό γέρο υπηρέτη ο οποίος τον είχε αναθρέψει από μωρό και ήταν μέρος της οικογένειας. Και ο γέρος άντρας του είπε:

‘’Δεν είμαι σοφός, δεν είμαι μορφωμένος αλλά γνωρίζω ένα μήνυμα σαν αυτό που ψάχνεις. Κατά την διάρκεια των πολλών χρόνων που πέρασα στο παλάτι γνώρισα πολλούς ανθρώπους. Μία φορά, υπηρέτησα έναν μυστικιστή ο οποίος μας επισκέφτηκε μετά από πρόσκληση του πατέρα σου, και ο οποίος μου πέρασε αυτό το μήνυμα. Μόνο, μην το διαβάσεις, τοποθέτησέ το κάτω από την πέτρα μέσα στο δαχτυλίδι και διάβασέ το μονάχα όταν δεν υπάρχει καμιά διέξοδος πουθενά.’’

Ο βασιλιάς άκουσε τον γέρο υπηρέτη.

Μετά από κάποιο καιρό, οι εχθροί επιτέθηκαν στην χώρα και ο βασιλιάς έχασε τον πόλεμο. Έτρεξε να ξεφύγει με το άλογό του καθώς οι εχθροί του τον κυνηγούσαν. Ήταν μόνος του, ήταν πολλοί. Καβάλησε ως το τέλος του δρόμου. Υπήρχε ένας ψηλός λόφος μπροστά του, αν έπεφτε από εκεί, αυτό θα ήταν το τέλος. Δεν μπορούσε να πάει πίσω, καθώς οι εχθροί του πλησίαζαν. Μπορούσε ήδη να ακούσει το ποδοβολητό από τις οπλές των αλόγων. Δεν είχε καμία διέξοδο. Βρισκόταν σε απόλυτη απόγνωση.

Τότε θυμήθηκε το δαχτυλίδι. Το άνοιξε και κάτω από την πέτρα βρήκε μία επιγραφή με τέσσερεις λέξεις: ‘’Και αυτό θα περάσει.’’

Αφού διάβασε το μήνυμα ένιωσε ότι όλα ήρθαν σε ησυχία. Προφανώς, οι διώκτες του χαθήκαν και προχωρήσαν σε λάθος κατεύθυνση. Άλογα δεν ακουγόντουσαν πια.

Ο βασιλιάς πλημύρισε με ευγνωμοσύνη προς τον υπηρέτη και τον άγνωστο μυστικιστή. Οι λέξεις ήταν γεμάτες δύναμη. Έκλεισε το δαχτυλίδι και πήρε πάλι τον δρόμο. Ξανά, μάζεψε τον στρατό του και ανακατέλαβε το βασίλειο του.

Την ημέρα που επέστρεψε στο παλάτι του, οργανώθηκε μία πολυτελή υποδοχή για αυτόν, μία γιορτή για όλη την χώρα. Οι άνθρωποι εξέφραζαν πόσο αγαπούσαν τον βασιλιά τους. Ο βασιλιάς ήταν ευτυχισμένος και υπερήφανος.

Ο γέρος υπηρέτης ήρθε σε αυτόν και απαλά του είπε: ‘’Ακόμα και αυτή η στιγμή θα περάσει. Κοίτα το μήνυμα ξανά.’’

‘’Τώρα είμαι ο νικητής. Οι άνθρωποι γιορτάζουν την επιστροφή μου, δεν βρίσκομαι σε απόγνωση.’’

‘’Άκου τον γέρο υπηρέτη,’’ απάντησε, ‘’το μήνυμα λειτουργεί όχι μόνο στους κακούς καιρούς αλλά επίσης στους καλούς.’’

Ο βασιλιάς άνοιξε το δαχτυλίδι και διάβασε: ‘’Και αυτό θα περάσει.’’ Ξανά ένιωσε την ησυχία να τον καλύπτει, παρόλο και ήταν στο μέσον ενός θορυβώδες πλήθους που χόρευε. Τα συναισθήματα της υπερηφάνειας και αριστοκρατικής υπεροψίας εξαφανιστήκαν. Κατανόησε το μήνυμα. Ήταν ένας σοφός άνθρωπος.

Και τότε ο γέρος υπηρέτης είπε: ‘’Θυμάσαι όλα όσα σου σου συνέβησαν; Τίποτα δεν είναι μόνιμο. Κανένα συναίσθημα δεν μένει. Όπως η νύχτα αλλάζει σε ημέρα, οι στιγμές της χαράς και της απόγνωσης αντικαθιστούν η μία την άλλη. Αποδέξου τες σαν την φύση των πραγμάτων, ως μέρος της ζωής.’’

                                 “This too shall pass.” 

There was a king and he once said to his court sages - I have a ring with one of the finest diamonds in the world and I want to hide a message under the stone which can be useful in times of despair. I will give this ring to my heirs and I want it to serve them faithfully. Come up with a message to be inscribed under the diamond. It must be short to fit on the ring.

The sages knew how to write treatises but could not express themselves in one short sentence. They tried hard but couldn’t come up with anything. The king complained about the failure of his venture to a faithful old servant who raised him from infancy and was part of the family. And the old man said to him: “I’m not a sage, I’m not educated, but I know of such a message. During my many years spent in the palace I met a lot of people. Once, I served a visiting mystic whom your father invited and he passed me this message. Just don’t read it, put it under the stone inside the ring and read it only when there’s no way out at all." The king listened to the old servant.

After some time, the enemies attacked the country and the king lost the war. He fled on his horse and enemies pursued him. He was alone, they were many. He rode to the end of the road. There was a big cliff before him, if he fell there - that would be the end. He could not go back, as the enemies were approaching. He already could hear the clatter of their horses' hooves. He had no way out. He was in complete despair. Then he remembered the ring. He opened it and under the stone found an inscription of three words: “This too shall pass.”

After reading the message he felt that everything went quiet. Apparently, the pursuers got lost and proceeded in the wrong direction. Horses were no longer heard. The king was filled with gratitude to the servant and the unknown mystic. Words were powerful. He closed the ring and hit the road. Again, he gathered his army and conquered back his state.

On the day when he returned to the palace, they arranged a lavish welcome for him - a feast for the whole country. People loved their king. The king was happy and proud.

The old servant came up to him and softly said: “Even this moment will pass. Look at the message again.”

"Now I am the winner. People are celebrating my return, I'm not in despair."

“Listen to the old servant,” he answered, “it works not only in bad times but also in good.”

The king opened the ring and read: “This too shall pass."

Again, he felt silence falling over him. Although he was in the midst of a noisy dancing crowd. Feelings of pride and entitlement disappeared. He understood the message. He was a wise man.

And then the old servant said: “Do you remember everything that happened to you? Nothing is permanent. No feeling stays. As night changes to day, moments of joy and despair replace one another. Accept them as the nature of things, as part of life.”

Aes Dana-Miktek, Live@The Place, Athens, March 2016

These are photographs and video from the live presentation of the collaboration album “Cut” by AES Dana and Miktek, the French legend of Psy and Ambient music and the comparatively young blood of Ambient music, coming from Greece, that took place in “The Place” one of Athens most prominent underground venues, at the second of March 2016.

 

http://ultimae.bandcamp.com/album/cut-24bits

https://ultimae.com/artists/aes-dana/

https://ultimae.com/artists/miktek/

https://ultimae.com/

http://www.the-place.gr/

https://www.facebook.com/ThePlaceAthens/

Spray Vision #2, The Phantom Graffiti Of Polytechnic School, Athens-March 2015

I grew up in a time when graffiti was taking its form as we know it now. It was considered profane to write on a wall, completely out of the rules of well behaving but it was carrying so much truth and feeling about what was going on around. Imagine it as a Stone Age twitter (in the case of social-political messages) or like the wolf’s marking of his territory (mostly in the case of football fans). In the course of time it evolved from slogans to painting. This evolution came out of the need of younger generations to beautify an urban landscape that was constructed hastily by the generation who having dealt with war and hunger, just cared to, as we say, settle a tile (roof) above its head.

While graffiti seemed to always be an object of confrontation between those who adored and those who were appalled by it, its evolution to big scale paintings that allotted color and meaning to the gray city walls, made most of the people to recognize it as an art form. Indeed one that we don’t have to search it in galleries but one that accompanies us and converses directly with our daily life.

About a month ago a graffiti came to life during the night, seemingly without anyone taking notice, on the outer walls of one of the most historic buildings of the country, right in Athens downtown. The painting that Athenians faced on the walls of the country’s anti-dictatorship symbol, looked as if it wasn’t made to beautify the city. Didn’t have a specific shape, certainly no color. Pure black, whitish and gray in an amorphous shape that to me looked like the army camouflage or maybe like the mental images of the collective unconscious of a country deep in its crisis era.

Did the artist wanted to say something and what was it? He was nowhere to be found to tell us. Some found his word as the definition of profanity, a sign of how into degradation our life is going to. Some as a message or reflection of what is happening in and to the country, a piece of art with a political message. All of these can hold some truth. The things that impressed me was the way that a graffiti of such a scale appeared like from one moment to the other. As if from thin air. Then, as long as I remember the building-for sure the last two decades-it’s full of graffiti and posters. So full that it again looked like under camouflage, only more colorful, like the pallet of an abstract painter, than the disposition of a country in the trenches of economic siege. 

With this, complaints about the new graffiti sounds hypocritical -I quote a comment of Stavroula Panagiotaki, from Athens Voice newspaper, 19-25 March 2015, “Fortunately, they started cleaning the Polytechnic so that the worst graffiti that lie underneath but no one was talking about can become visible”. Of course, the scale of it, something like 100 square meters, justifies the bringing of the matter to the surface of public debate. And it makes an impression to me how the idea of the artist’s freedom to express, sometimes comes to action. I mean, am totally for the idea, it’s just that sometimes in my country we becloud the ideal of freedom with things like our right we give ourselves to impose to others things like the smoke of our cigarette in bars and cafes, even though there is a law against it.  

 
Even though I often photograph graffiti, the whole fuss that was raised made me not caring to photograph the particular one. But it happened that one day I had to visit the Polytechnic University, so I took my camera with me. That morning I found the two outer walls veiled on green cloth inside of which the cleaning workers had just started their anti-spray project. I directed myself straight in the school, leaving this for the end. Finishing what I had to do in the offices, I strolled around the yards. At the same time the work team cleans up the graffiti that became first page, all the facades in the yards are full of graffiti! For me, it’s a playground, the canvas on which I create. In one of the graffities I read one of the Greek mother’s favorite quote: “What will the people say!”, and it seems to me that it describes best the current situation: Giving so much attention to what is visible on the outside without really caring of what is happening in the inside.

                       After I photographed the graffiti in the yards, I walked outside to take a look at the “spraying block”. Aligned on the pavement are the X marked chemical containers with which the workers has started cleaning the walls. Who can imagine how much harmful chemicals has this neighborhood submitted to the last decades, fires from riots, teargas and graffiti cleaning agents. The latter might become useless, should technology come up with a cheap nano-paint that will make a wall graffiti-proof. But then I guess, nano-technology might come up with an antidote as well. The thing is that graffiti is not a contemporary issue. It’s been with us since the time we were living in caves. The thing is that in a way we’re still living in there.

 

                       The nanotechnology thing sounds irrelevant in this article but the not the cave thing. Because I strongly feel it’s something we need to step out of, in mindset terms, in this country. You see, the prevailing narrative in the press and commentators in my country goes a lot like the following, from the editorial of Athens Voice newspaper, 19-25 march 2015, written by Fotis Georgeles: “The secret of Greece is that it grew fearful of life, that it doesn’t love creativity anymore, love, dreaming. Full of fear it seeks enemies to smite, the weak ones to impose on, the different ones to hate. It intoxicates itself in violence so that it won’t have to face herself in the mirror. She is afraid of what she’ll face. She kills her children and commits suicide.” What can I say big guy, sure, you’re right but you know what? Fuck this narrative! Enough with that. Not only we don’t need that anymore, we strongly a new narrative, a new vision. Enough with the nagging and misery. I want to see my country envisioning herself toward solutions.

The narrative I want for my country, sounds like this: “The secret of Greece is that no matter how difficult things could ever come to, no matter how much they tried to impose fear on her, she managed not only to survive but to thrive. Because her love for life, turned whatever difficulties and fears into creativity, love and dreaming. Even in the most hostile of conditions, she showed that she can respect and include all the aspects of human experience. The only things that she believes are worth being intoxicated to, are love –as it is expressed in the coming of spring after a hard winter- participation in a cause and the sense of belonging –as these are expressed in the circular chorus of people holding hands and dancing in the famous feasts (panigyri). Thus, no matter how deep in trouble she may find herself, she always has the courage to look herself right in the mirror. Because she knows that if there is something worth killing, it’s her bad self. And if at a moment she seems to you on committing suicide, the truth is that she’s just sacrificing her illusions and her comfort zone.