The question of Athens as a metropolis emerged in a latest part of this project; the wish to create a western European city, the urge to appear modern was very significant to me. Athenians tent to forget real Athens (its mountains, the memory of water, climate conditions). They replace it by an imaginary average city with escalators, fountains, air conditioning. In my photos I use materials such as marble, glass, parquet and elements which imply comfort, wealth and a contact with nature (sofas, pools, rivers) to suggest how we wish to transform Athens, so as to be proud of it and show it to the others.
It is in this context that I was interested in archeological sites, most particularly in Parthenon. Monuments mark a city like Athens both historically and esthetically. I put some grass around Parthenon, I add escalators in front of the monument, or change the color of the marble into the black luxurious material, which is used now in suburbs to suggest abundance. By changing the use, the form or the esthetic patterns I imply the importance of safety and luxury in the contemporary world.
Another connotations is that archeological sites are strictly reserved to tourists. Modern greek identity is haunted by glorified past and a stereotype idea of ancient Greece. We still don’t perceive monuments as a part of the city we live in, or as an aesthetic value we may enjoy but rather as a non-place, dedicated to the tourist’s or the archeologist’s eye.