My analysis will begin with the three video installations of ‘Le Temps Spectaculaire’ for two principal reasons: firstly, because video is a time-based medium and the title of the exhibition refers to the concept of time, which has been pivotal in Debord’s work and, secondly, because I wish to allude to the fact that a dematerialized object, like digital video or spectacle itself, can profoundly affect the ‘real’, physical world. By connecting La Société du spectacle with the global economic crisis of 2008–2012 the article aspires to illuminate the fruitful dialogue between contemporary art and theory, in a time of enduring volatility for our globalized world. In this article I will elaborate on the distinct aspects of spectacle that were investigated in the exhibition, through a brief analysis of each of the works presented. The title of the exhibition was ‘Le Temps Spectaculaire’ (‘Spectacular Time’) and it referred both to the character of our times and to chapter six of Debord’s influential book. Inspired by this fact, the core of the exhibition at the Institut Français was comprised of three video projects accompanied by a body of four new mixed-media installations and works on paper. Notably, apart from being a prominent philosopher, Debord was also a bold experimental film-maker, who aimed to subvert any concept of representation as promoted through television and mainstream cinema. Guy Debord believed deeply in the power of art to stimulate people’s political consciousness and to generate change. On the occasion of this 2011 anniversary I was invited by the Institut Français de Thessalonique in Greece, and by the 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, to produce a solo exhibition presenting old and new works influenced by the context of Debord’s work.
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However the course of time has established the necessary distance for a more dispassionate assessment, and today it would be very hard to contest many of Debord’s arguments as set out in his works in particular his seminal book of 1967, La Société du spectacle ( The Society of the Spectacle).
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His radical political beliefs, his role in the student protests of 1968 and his suicide in 1994 made him, for a long time, a rather controversial figure of the international intelligentsia. Since 2009 the multifaceted work of French philosopher Guy Debord (1931–1994) has been a creative catalyst in my exploration, not only as a tool for diagnosing the failures of the past, but also as a ‘compass’ for realizing the potential for true change in the future.Ģ8 December 2011 marked the eightieth anniversary of the birth of Debord, who could be characterized as the last European ‘rebel-philosopher’ of the twentieth century.
The society of the spectacle full#
The consideration of both the cultural and social elements of the crisis has been crucial to portraying a full picture and in highlighting the contradictions inherent in the present condition. In other words, the economic causes of the crisis might have been relatively ‘easy’ to identify nevertheless, its cultural and social origins bear a much greater significance for any artist who aspires to imaginatively approach the transitional status of our globalized world. Yet what I was looking for was not simply an explanation of the crisis itself, but rather an elucidation of its context. Inevitably, this ‘inward’ process and the investigation into the origins of the crisis brought me to a variety of texts and theoretical approaches. This fact has also provided me with the opportunity to lend a more intimate character to some of my works and to imbue them with stronger elements of self-reflection. Gradually, as the economic crisis deepened, the role of Greece in my works became more prominent, since my home country has been a protagonist in global economic developments.
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Amid the crisis, this has led to the production of new video installation works (my exclusive medium until 2010), as well as to the production, for the first time in my career, of works in media other than video. Having studied Economics before leaving Greece to become an artist, I always had a strong interest in developing a dialogue between my academic background and my artistic practice. For the last few years, my artistic work has been characterized by reflection on the global economic crisis and the nature of the capitalist system.