Tarek Atoui was invited by locus athens to create a new work for Elefsina as part of the Aisxylia Festival 2015. Elefsina, site of the Ancient Eleusinian mysteries, is a post-industrial city steeped in myth on the outskirts of Athens. The project I/E Elefsis is based on his in situ investigation of the sonic landscape of Elefsina and his collective instrument I/E. Atoui invited the field recordist Chris Watson to collect the sounds of the ancient site, the port and the derelict oil factory that is now the exhibition site of the festival. These collected sounds form the basis for a new narrative of the city: a new musical composition by Tarek Atoui inspired by ‘musique concrete’ and three performances by Greek and international musicians. The improvisational dialogue between the musicians and Elefsina’s unmediated sounds will punctuate the exhibition’s timeline and reactivate the space.
Tarek Atoui is a prominent sound artist and composer. At the core of his work is an ongoing reflection about the notion of the instrument and on the act of performance as a complex and open process. Chris Watson is a key figure in field recording and founder of the Sheffield group Cabaret Voltaire. Alexandre Guirkinger is a photographer who works with different format analogue cameras.
Design and art direction by Studio Lialios Vazoura. Curated by Locus Athens.