Based on her personal distinct experiences of the stage, and mainly a deep comprehension of the backstage, those large deserted spaces that empty out and sink into silence as soon as the lights go out, Lydia Andrioti breaks down the components of ancient tragedy to direct her own “play” - a comment on Nietzsche:

The Logos : Thespis, the first actor - "light", converses with the “cyclic chorus” from which he has been detached, in order to act , ie to develop a dialogue and an argument.

The Music: The sounds of nature refer to the two main axes that point to the origin of music: melody and rhythm; the counterpoint between the Apollonian and the Dionysian elements, which, according to Nietzsche, is the prime expression of the tragic feeling of life.

The Space: The ancient theater becomes a mirror, confronting the spectator with himself and introducing him to a process of self-awareness.

The Stage: A massive building, emphatically oriented towards the Acropolis of the Athenian Democracy, as expressed through tragedy, and facing the Sacred Way followed by the Dionysian processions of the Eleusinian Mysteries. 

Both the site and the wider area of the city, are a self-referential, bitter commentary on modern expressions of Dionysian entertainment and collective ecstasy, in an attempt to escape from the prison of the Ego.

In times where tragedy lost music and music lost tragedy, what do we learn from the Athens of ancient glamor in comparison to the Athens of the crisis? What remains when art, from entertainment, becomes distraction, that is, shedding?

The question raised by Andrioti is directly related to the concept she has developed in her previous works ("Entertaining Maintenance"): "acting means light," but how many are working in the dark for that light to be produced? Elia Vlachou

Lydia Andrioti lives and Works in Greece, she is a visual artist and since 2009 she is involved in curatorial projects. In 2006 she attended the visual arts program of École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris (ENSBA) under the Erasmus program, in 2009 she graduated from the Athens School of fine arts (ASFA) and she holds a masters degree from the New Media program of Pratt Institute (NY, USA 2012). Durring her stay in the United States she has participated in group shows and has been engaged with the production settings, costumes and new media installations for theatrical plays and perfomances. Since 2009 she is curatating exhibitions in Athens, New York and the Aegean Islands. Lydia has particated in aproximenlty 30 projects in New York, Vienna, Paris, Ireland and Greece.

Selectively : “Gemine Muse”, Crawford municipal Museum, Cork, Ireland (2005). “Culture Industry, Folklore and Clichés”, Vox, Athens GR (2008). “Intimate Space” Olympic Village, Vienna, Austria (2011). “Crisis and Paganism” Mykonos Biennale (2013). “In Praise of chance and failure” Family Business, New York, USA (2013), “Antidote, Mykonos annex of the Athens School of fine Arts” Mykonos Biennale (2015), “The fantastic journeys of energy” Kappatos Gallery, Athens GR (2016).