The work-in progress with the title "Das Kollektiv der Liebenden (People of the South)" consists of two performance-videos and one sound piece. It is based on a performance that took place in the abandoned former Kronos factory in Eleusina, Greece. Eleusina is a major industrial centre in Greece. In ancient times it was the site of the secret Eleusinian Mysteries or the Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone.

The performance is being set in the ruins of a former oil and wine factory from 1922 and is based on a fairy tale -that the artist wrote especially for the project- about joy, loss, vulnerability, global warming and bodily aspects of language . It shows the ceremony of joy and intimacy during the nocturnal encounters and the rituals that the collective of lovers enacts as soon as it gets dark and they can open their mouths. The performers' movements, poses are inspired both by representations of the Eleusinian Mysteries and Queer Cruising. The starting point of the vocal performance are specific exercises that have been developed by american composer Pauline Oliveros.

The work uses the dynamics, vulnerability and relationality of the voice and paralinguistic elements of language to illuminate the material and bodily aspects of speech production.

The fairytale goes like this (summary):
The sun's rays, when in contact with saliva, force a chemical compound in the body that causes even the last drop of bodily fluid to leak out abruptly and fatally.
A group of friends and lovers  flees from the south to the northernmost point of Iceland where sunshine is rare. During the day, in the months when the sun is shining, they live in the belly of a caring whale. At night they come out and only then can they open their mouths.
They delight in nocturnal encounters.
They carefully listen to the of the whales, the water and the air, forging a language that speaks sounds they can make with their mouths closed.
As soon as it gets dark, they come out and stage a farewell feast
They come out while the joy of opening their mouths sets in
They dance with the shadows of unheard words

„Das Kollektiv der Liebenden (People of the South)” is a narration about voice, affinity, care, collective grief and pleasure.

"Das Kollektiv der Liebenden"_a polyphonic paralinguistic video-performance
HDV, colour, sound
Duration: 17 min 37 sec and 09 min 22 sec
Performers and vocalists: Christina Karagianni, Nefeli Myrtidi, Antonis Antoniou, Marios Chatziprokopiou, Nuri Diakaki, Eleonora Vratskidou.
Kamera / Video and sound Editing: V Franck-Lee Alli-Tis
With a painting titled "My suns" especially created for the project by Maria F. Dolores

Info about the text and the sound piece:
"People of the South"_a polyphonic sound piece
Duration: 19 min 59 sec
Sound arrangement / Drums / Keyboards / Sound Editing: V Franck-Lee Alli-Tis
Vocals: Oyto Arognos, Christina Karagianni, V Franck-Lee Alli-Tis (Komminuτέρας music gang)
Text: V Franck-Lee Alli-Tis
Proof reading: Maria Petrides and Clémentine Roy
Translation to Icelandic: Kari Ósk Grétudóttir

The work is especially created for the exhibition "From the shore to the mud pool" which took place at Verksmi∂jan, Hjalteyri, Iceland from the 30th of July 2022 to 31th of August 2022.

 

Short excerpt from the sound piece People of the South