Odysseus and the bathers

Book

Odysseus and the bathers / Paul Chan ; contributions by Sam Thorne, Elina Kountouri, Nikolaos Stampolidis, Alexandra Pappas.

Chan, Paul, 1973- (artist,, author.). Mouseio Kykladikēs Technēs, (host institution.).

Summary:

What makes Odysseus such a contemporary character even after 2,000 years? Why is the quality that Homer attributes to him (polytropos, which loosely translates as "cunning" or "many-sided") so evocative of questions that bind art and reason, creativity and ethics, freedom and conformity? Odysseus and the Bathers documents the 2018 eponymous exhibition by the acclaimed international artist Paul Chan at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, Greece. Inspired by the "polytropic" nature of Odysseus, Chan has created a body of work he calls "breathers": kinetic sculptures that move unlike anything else in contemporary art. An essay by Chan explores the concept and history of polytropos and its relationship to what Marcel Duchamp called "the creative act." This book also features an essay by curator Sam Thorne, a conversation between Doctor Nikolaos Stampolidis, Director of the Museum of Cycladic Art, and Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON, on the notion of "polytropism", and fragments by the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides (5th century BCE), newly translated by classicist Alexandra Pappas, which illuminate how Odysseus's "cunning" echoes traditions of thinking in ancient philosophy.

Record details

ISBN: 9781943263219
ISBN: 1943263213
Physical Description: 144 pages : color illustrations ; 25
Publisher: New York : Badlands Unlimited ; [2018]

Content descriptions

General Note:: Published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Greece, July 5-October 14, 2018.
Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references.
Formatted Contents Note:: note: Many Ways / Sam Thorne -- Documentation of Exhibition -- Odysseus as Artist / Paul Chan -- Polytropos: A Dialogue / Nikos Stampolidis -- Parmenides: Four Fragments.