Andreas Angelidakis
DEMOS: A Reconstruction
Jan 14 - Mar 15, 2020
This winter, Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal is glad to present DEMOS: A Reconstruction, an installation by Andreas Angelidakis that was first conceptualised for the documenta 14 (Athens, Greece) in 2016 as part of its public program “Parliament of Bodies”. The work was subsequently reproduced in various ways for various places, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (Canada) which presented the version DEMOS: A Reconstruction that is now here. The initial installation draws in Athens’ foundations which saw the birth of democracy’s conceptualization. It offers 74 reconfigurable modules that can be adapted to different types of gathering. The large scale installation questions the formula speaker/audience by reversing the roles. The multiple prints are taken from the greek and ottoman folklore by adding to the playful aspect of the visual proposition.
Andreas Angelidakis holds a Masters in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. His work is shown in major institutions such as the Jeu de Paume (Paris, France) and the Turner Contemporary (Margate, United Kingdom). It is also part of many public collections like the one of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens, Greece) and of the Art Institute of Chicago (United States). Angelidakis utilizes his background in architecture to develop a visual practice using the web as a means to understand the community as located in the real space. Conceiving the architecture as a source of affect, he approaches it as if it were a moving flux in a constant evolution. The artist considers space as a programmable device that must be adapted to different needs.