Phaistos disc reveals secrets on Hydra

In addition to the DESTE Foundation’s regular exhibition program in Athens, a number of events take place elsewhere including the DESTE Project Space Slaughterhouse, a space in Hydra's old slaughterhouse, which was granted to the Foundation, in 2008, by the Municipality of the island. The recently restored and renovated building preserves the original elements of its old identity while serving as a unique exhibition space and every summer is assigned to a single artist or team who are invited to stage a unique, site-specific exhibition.

This summer and until the end of September, the DESTE Foundation is presenting the exhibition The Secret of the Phaistos Disc by the Polish artist Pawel Althamer. An interactive project that combines sculpture and performance with a series of experimental ways of social communication and creativity. The focus is on the nature of families, family relationships and more generally on human relationships and the way they fit into society to form a ‘universal’ family that lies at the centre of today’s city. Once again, Althamer pushes the boundaries of contemporary sculpture to the point where its essence acquires a human aspect.

The main role in this work is played by the artist’s own family. Specifically, Althamer’s children become protagonists as they are called upon to develop and stage a happening whose aim is to explore the relations, correlations and asterisms that lie behind the existing social structures. Children and adults alike are invited to take part in the happening using handmade puppets (most of which depict the Althamer family, but others as well) to “construct” various scenarios —or messages— of their imagination. In this way the participants activate the very process and the properties of the creative act, which is the main aim of the project and the artist.

The works to come out of the performance will remain installed in the Slaughterhouse throughout the exhibition. Visitors will be able to add more elements to the original narrative and thus create new identities for the ‘heroes’.

The sources of inspiration behind this project are the Phaistos Disc, considered to be the earliest known example of typography and encoded information (Middle Bronze Age; 17th c. BCE), and the Emerald Tablet, a text attributed to a figure from Hellenistic times known as Hermes Trismegistus. The Emerald Tablet sets the foundations of alchemic theory and practice as they are known today. This hermetic text is said to contain the secret of prima materia and its transmutations.

Born in Warsaw in 1967, Pawel Althamer is a sculptor and performer. His work examines the complexity of human relations, questioning the boundaries of the individual’s personal and overall identity. He is known for his collaborative projects with the members of various groups and communities as well as for his actions which attempt a subtle alteration of reality through almost imperceptible interventions in public space. Althamer is passionate in his conviction that the transformative power of art helps people find inspiration in their everyday reality. Althamer has taken part in numerous exhibitions of contemporary art.