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