Metamorphosis 581
2019
In 2019, as many as 13,785 Greek caiques were scrapped and lost from the Mediterranean Sea.
Seeking to combat overfishing and protect fish stocks, the E.U. programme for subsidising the destruction of traditional fishing boats was introduced in 1991.
The directive funded decommissioning of fishing vessels and returning fishing licences; in 2014, scrapping of caiques was also introduced.
The artists began by investigating whether any caiques had recently been damaged in the area of Pythagorion. The residents led them to the site of destruction.
The name of the caique was Metamorphosis 581.
At the same time, the title refers to the transformation—or metamorphosis—of the Mediterranean Sea following the disappearance of the traditional wooden fishing boats, the caiques.
The work as both a tribute and a requiem to this vanishing craft, presented in the form of a video named after the wrecked caique, Metamorphosis 581.
In the video, which opens
with a scene of devastation,
"a pile of debris", islanders
pick up a piece of the caique
at the marina where it was
found, and proceed solemnly,
as if it were a funeral
procession, towards the
village of Pythagorion.
A drone records their
movements to Art Space
Pythagorio the exhibition
space for which the work was
produced, where the broken
pieces of the caiques's hull
have been transformed into a
raft installation.
Video
Duration: 3:03’’
Direction: Sphinxes
Text: Evi Tsitsigkou
Camera: Alexander Jaschic