mezedes on the ilissos — a parasitic dinner


dinner, sound installation
2022

A collaboration with Lena Violetta Leitner.

Can a meaningful exchange become an artwork? I got to know Vienna-based artist Lena Violetta Leitner when she came to Athens for an artist residency. We ended up meeting several times and talked about parasites, Athens’ rivers, and our experiences of working in the cultural sector as well as being a foreigner in the city. Mezedes, Greek appetizers, were a constant during all of these conversations. During one of our discussions, we wondered if they could lead to an artwork; if they could become an artwork. This led us to organise a “parasitic” dinner at a special location: the nearly dried up Ilissos river. Thereby, we were joined by two Athenians, whom we served a 6-course menu consisting of questions, thoughts, associations, and quotes from interviews with scientists and philosophers, alongside our favourite mezedes.

The project was presented in the form of a sound installation at State of Concept in Athens, during the event Where is the river?.




Photos of the dinner, the invitation, the menu, and the sound-installation. Photos courtesy of Lena Violetta Leitner and Frederiek Simons.


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I am a textile artist, researcher, and writer based in Amsterdam. Through my work runs a tangible thread that is spun from questions about materials, hierarchies, traditions, patterns, shapes, and their relations. By means of artistic research, I aim to unravel them and investigate their potential to be interlaced in new ways.

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© Frederiek Simons, 2024