Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable

Dates

2016 - Ongoing
Author

Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki
Locations Crete, Greece
Recognition

Projection at PhMuseum Days 2023 - PhMuseum Days 2023 Open Call

This body of work echoes a sinister omen from the future.

During the last few years, we witnessed countless refugees driven away from war zones and the worldwide rise of radicalism while populism and the extreme right parties were gaining power in Western countries. We saw the reviving of the cold war era and a new arms race. We are now living in the aftershock of the post-WWII “grand” narratives death. We witnessed all these from the comfort of our couch.

“1866 Sisyphus” is the name of a near-Earth asteroid discovered by astronomer Paul Wild in 1972. Measuring 6-9 km in diameter, in the unlike occasion of ever colliding with Earth, it will bring life to an end. The asteroid will make a safe passing from Earth on November 24, 2071.

One night, we decided to bring Sisyphus down on earth on an imaginary scenario, which takes place during its nearest crossing in 2071. We use the fictional event as the core to form a layered body of work, which will engage the viewer into pondering on the meaning of existence. The imagery of this on-going project consists of a non-indexed collection of evidence that converge towards a future accident. Although photography is central to our approach, we apply a broader arsenal of types by collecting printed material and incorporating found images, texts, video stills, readymade objects, sounds, etc. On a more functional level, we conceal, fracture, recontextualize and blend facts with fiction in order to activate the viewers and challenge their perspective of the world. As part of our artistic approach, we reference visual elements and texts from various Civil Defense publications that are relics of the cold war era. By doing so, we attempt to add to our work some of the authoritative power of these old leaflets and use their bizarre, detached and unsentimental approach on the all-life threatening event of an imminent nuclear war. Our purpose is not to exhaustively investigate the related period and its ramifications but rather harvest concepts to shape a body of work broader than the specific era. Our aim is to visualize a Sisyphean condition, a hypothetical certainty of absolute futility: all-life in earth will cease to exist.

Videos for the project:

https://vimeo.com/699088890

https://vimeo.com/699090763

https://vimeo.com/695489376

Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki

www.panos-mary.com

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #1. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Confrontations’ flextangle. Original images (here shown fragmented) originate from: Vietnam - segregation (Black Power handshake) - bombs & explosives, Overseas Weekly photographs, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Rec. Num.: 2014c35.632 Object created by Panos +Mary (Object view).

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a period of environmental catastrophe that, throughout the 1930s, destroyed the farmlands of the Great Plains, and unleashed massive and deadly dust storms that for many seemed to herald the end of the world.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #2. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Aftermath. One of the largest transfers of Sahara dust to Crete, Greece occurred on March 22, 2018.

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Aftermath. One of the largest transfers of Sahara dust to Crete, Greece occurred on March 22, 2018.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Representation of an asteroid. Synthetic image.

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Representation of an asteroid. Synthetic image.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #3. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Comet Pills. Medicine packaging. Modern recreation (fictional) of Comet Pills, sold by con artists during the great comet scare of 1910. Object created by Panos +Mary (Object view).

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #4. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - In Vitro. Laboratory cultivation.

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In Vitro. Laboratory cultivation.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Wisdom tooth. The picture is a product of Focus Stacking (Object view).

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Wisdom tooth. The picture is a product of Focus Stacking (Object view).

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #5. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Ignis fatuus. "Foolish fire". Digital painting over photograph.

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Ignis fatuus. "Foolish fire". Digital painting over photograph.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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640 grams. “A person produced only about half an okka (640 grams) of ashes” From a letter of Marcel Nadjary, a Greek Jew in Auschwitz. One of the buried Sonderkommando manuscripts found.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #6. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Radar image of the asteroid. Fictional representation.

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Radar image of the asteroid. Fictional representation.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #7. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Representation of an asteroid. Manipulated image.

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Representation of an asteroid. Manipulated image.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Image from the Inherently Unpredictable and Reassuringly Expectable photography project

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Duck and cover #8. Duck and Cover was a suggested method, by the United States government, of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion from the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

© Panos Charalampidis + Mary Chairetaki - Omen. Composite image.

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Omen. Composite image.