Athanasios Argianas creates hybrids (sculptures and installations) incorporating music (his own or from collaborations/commissions), layering references that concentrate on the early ages of modernist experimentation in music and visual culture from the 30s, 60s and 70s.
(Xenia Kalpaktsoglou in
catalogue of the exhibition So Much…So Great…, Larissa Contemporary Art
Center, 2003)
Konrad, 2003, is an edition of ten 12”
vinyl records. The music (1’:30”) is written & produced separately for each
speaker, referencing early electronic music (Kraftwerk) on the right, and
Balkan folk music on the left, using the relevant instrumentation and recording
techniques.
This is accompanied by a furniture piece, especially designed to present
and play the work.
Proposition for a Mobile Plateau, 2003 consists in an aluminium and wood wheel (for the text scroll), a
portable p.a. system (cd player, amplifier and full range speakers fitted) and
fits on top of an industry standard steel equipment stand/ trolley.
The casing is made of birch plywood, wood-stained varnish, rigid polyurethane and enamel, with a small chrome handle which opens the casing in order to access the electrical equipment.
A copy of the cd compilation Musik for Furniture (cr. Smoothrooms,
distributed by Groove Attack, Germany) accompanies the piece.
(In the pictures, it is shown functionning with headphones, installed at
the Prague Biennal 1, 2003).
Trejoyer is based on a graphic designed by
Henry Van De Velde, Circa 1918, which was translated into a three dimensional
structure to form a shelf. This a fully useable shelf, occasionally hosting
other artist’s works.