Communitism is a sociο-cultural project based in Athens that aims to mobilize social structures into re-activating abandoned buildings of our cultural heritage.
“The message of Communitism’s third major event “Europe was taken by a Bull” is that all the theories about Europe’s or the world’s future do not really matter. We are in no condition to predict all that can, or will, happen. The future can be as surreal as the myth from which the name of our continent originates. What matters is what we do, here, now, on a personal level along with the people that form our communities.”
We Will Work In A Circle was a project that took place on a month long residency with Communitism during April 2018. I facilitated workshops where participants learned how to make rope from plastic bags which are unfortunately abundant in Greece. We then collectively constructed a Macrame net and hoisted it into place in the courtyard of the building: a Neo Classical style former textile factory. The piece stayed on display for the whole summer.
The project explored circular systems both in terms of materials used an in creating work collectively. Macrame is a craft that uses knotting techniques to create patterns. Knots and ropes are amoung the oldest technologies and may even predate the use of fire. The knot as a symbol is present in nearly all cultures across the Earth and means the same thing: connectedness, loyalty, friendship, and infinity. I found it fitting to use knotting techniques for a collectively made sculpture, in working in a circle together, participants were also forming bonds between them.
