Works in Public Space
1965 -2007
“When the space of communication is inunundated with audio-visual information, where can any space for sculpture be found? Here is the critical question: How can a sculptor in our era break through the screens of the “a-topian image ” in order to function in the diachronic “depth of field” of art as communication, which gives content to civilisation? When Civilisation is understood as a field of qualitative co-existence and as a vital element of social lie, for the natural survival of humankind on earth”
Theodoros, sculptor 1997
Rising Index, 2007
New
Hellenic Exchanges S.A.building
THE METRO CLOCK, 2001
Syntagma Metro Station, Athens
THE METRO CLOCK, 2001 Metro Station at Syntagma Square, Athens
“In 2001, the Metro Clock was installed in the underground station in Syntagma square in Athens. This was in many ways the culmination of my studies on sculpture in public spaces. The work includes the concepts of time and the wheel, implicit references to the changes brought about by the industrial revolution and of which trains were emblematic.
The work combines different kinds of wheels, suggesting different functions, and two clocks, reflecting on the fact that perceptions of timeare affected by mechanized mobility. The overall composition brings these different elements into a complex balance, and the sense of precariousness isevident here too, as the wheel appears ready to slide off from its curved base.
There is also an elongated arrow/minute marker. This points to the direction of the Parliament, which is above the station in Syntagma square, bringing back allusions to the democratic role of public art.
The materials used point to transformations in time: the work is made of bronze and stainless steel – an ancient and a modern metal, respectively. And it is worth noting that in
the space where it is located a number of archaeological finds are displayed, bringing the work into a broader dialogue with its environment.”
Theodoros, sculptor 2018
Messages in the streams of history: A dialogue with sculptor Theodoros by Lydia Papadimitriou & Mark Durden, Journal of Greek Media & Culture, Volume 4, Number 1,2018.
Clepsydra, 2000
Marousi Town Hall garden
The sculpture “Twelve Ray Spoked Wheel on Cables Counter balanced by a Sphere” was constructed in 1993 for Eurometrics, an exhibition at the Evgenideio in Athens on the theme of ‘weights and measures’ in the history of european culture. The reference to “measure” (μέτρον) is suggested by the physical equilibrium upon which the composition is based. This work is part of the “Balances – Meteors” series, which began in 1963 with the first suspended sculpture, “Insect Hanging from a Bicycle Wheel”, as an alternative proposal for the public space.
In our times that the city space has been taken over by vehicles and various moving or stationary structures with a variety of messages, the function of sculpture in the public space has radically changed. The evolution of the postindustrial city defines another way of communication.
Preindusrial monumental sculpture was coordinated into the architectural organization of the land (τόπος), where the urban environment functioned as a field of communication. In our days, however, the work of sculpture is regarded as an autonomous art – object, in consequence its icorporation into the city happens without ‘common’ rules.
This objervation impelled me to make a comparative study of sculpture before and after the industrial revolution. This study has inspired a number of my projects, such as “Balances”, “Caryatids”. “Meteors”. These works of sculpture engage in dialogue with other elements that constitute the contemporary city.
In this particular installation, the inversion of the pediment of neo-classical buildings that is formed by the cables, on whose inverted ‘apex’ is counterbalanced , the wheel that supports the sphere, includes somme comment on the evolution of the city.
Theodoros, sculptor
June 2004
Model for the Monument of National Conciliation, Klafthmonos Square, 1986.
“Monument of National Conciliation (Mnimeio Ethnikis Symfiliosis, 1986) was among the unrealized proposals, designed in response to a competition for an installation at Klafthmonos Square in Athens that would mark the end of Cold War tensions in Greece with the return of (self)- exiled communists in the country. The concept behind it was to convey the precarious balance that the tensions of an ideologically divided society create.
There are two groups and their dialectical relationship allows the wheel, and below it the globe, to balance. Under the globe, in the position of the altar, are a compass and a lit oil lamp. But the work is meant to exceed local connotations, suggesting the universal quest for democracy”
Theodoros, sculptor 2018
Messages in the streams of history: A dialogue with sculptor Theodoros by Lydia Papadimitriou & Mark Durden, Journal of Greek Media & Culture, Volume 4, Number 1,2018.
Sphinx II, 1965
