Melpomene muse of tragedy / Synergastirion

Melpomene

The muse of tragedy.

On the 27th of june 2015 at Synergastirion as a final ritual to honor Melpomene, initially the Muse of Singing who then became the Muse of Tragedy, we turned the space of the Stoa of Merchants into a lucky/tragic game of cards in which nobody wins.

For this we created an interactive instalation with video-projection mapping, sound scaping and live silkscreen printing. The name of this project Don't push your luck!

For this project, Sergio Ko invited -on behalf of the Synergastirion- renowned musician Anthony P (Stereo Nova, Supermarket) and director Constantin Pilavios (movieteller, within) to create the game using Arduino, video projection mapping and sound-scaping, colleagues and friends to each illustrate a figure for a deck, drawing on inspiration from Melpomene. Printed by members of the Synergastirion, Typokomeio, Costas Zisimopoulos, Olimpia Lioni, Margarita Konstantinidou with special help from Chrisanthos and his custom made "Kounia Bella" screen printing machine, in the Stoa of Merchants on the 30th-31st May 2015, by silkscreen printing by hand, on Munken Pure Rough paper 300gsm from Perrakis Papers.

Deck illustrations by:

Vassilis Georgiou Jack of Spades
Eleana Mavrofrydi Queen of Spades
Stelios Spanoudakis King of Spades

Thanos Tsilis Jack of Clubs
Petros Christoulias Queen Of Clubs
Petros Bouloubasis King of Clubs

Sofia Touliatou Jack of Hearts
Kostas Kiriakakis Queen Of Hearts
Michael Dialynas King of Hearts

Costas Theoharis Jack of Diamonds
Markos Zouridakis Queen Of Diamonds
Fotis Varthis King of Diamonds

Paris Koutsikos Black Joker
Yiorgos Yiakos Black Joker
Smar Red Joker
Kostas Gotza Zisimopoulos Red Joker

Deck Art direction, Custom typeface & Graphic design:
Olympia Lioni Ost2
Kostas Gotza Zisimopoulos Gotza

The event was presented by Konstantina Polytimi Zerdeba Brikori as the Muse "Melpomene".

Synergastirion participated in the “Traces of Commerce” initiative to reactive an area that had been devoid of commercial activities for over 20 years. We were invited to use the shops as an experimental studio and showroom. In exchange all the stores offered a free, open source of knowledge related to their skills, which ranged from workshops to theatrical performances.

Synergastirion was a group of individuals that came together just for this project and disbanded at its end. Each month was delegated to an art director with a muse of his/her choice to act as inspiration for the month’s ongoing projects. Our daily activities concentrated its efforts on collaborations with others, both within and without the stoa. We invited the public to learning workshops for handmade paper, illustration, engraving, typography and silkscreen printing. In addition each art director was given the task to produce a manual with a free format for his / her muse and month. June was the month of Melpomene, the muse of tragedy.