PERFORMANCE ARTIST
Mesaoría
Featuring agricultural areas and downtown alleys, through a Zoom Hn4 recorder and a Samsung mobile phone, the work was developed into an interdisciplinary setting where the artist appropriates his own archival material to compose a soothing day-to-night replica of the bicommunal aura found in the heart of Cyprus, Nicosia - the last divided capital of Europe. With his minimal approach to choreography, he created a hybrid work consisting of urban and rural soundscapes, rusted metallic structures, and abandoned car tires. The work contains 14-channel audio sources, 3 handmade lighting systems, and one large video projection; together, they enact an immersive memory of border crossing.
The name Mesaoria comes from a synthetic Greek word: "Meso" - meaning between and "Oros" - meaning mountain. It refers to an area in central Cyprus, situated between the mountain chain of Pendaktylos (located at the self-declared TRNC) and Troodos (located at the Republic of Cyprus). It is a place signified by the crossing of the Green Line and its sonic contrast; the acoustic threshold of a sun-baked nature and the echo of the city. It reaches into the memoirs of the margins of the split capital, from vast drylands of the UN buffer zone to the narrow streets in Ledras and Lockmacı.
concept, direction, composition, performance - Elias Klark
dramaturgy - Avgoustina Triarou
sound engineer - Alexandru-Gabriel Negoescu
advisors - Thanasis Deligiannis, Jana Jacuka
light installation - Elias Klark, Avgoustina Triarou
sound composition - Elias Klark
video - Alex Apostolou
thanks to Daan Westendorp, Shimon Datauker, and Roan Lo-a-Njoe