Artists who respect themselves conduct relentless research in the field of their interest. First and foremost, they seek to acquire deeper knowledge in the unknown territories that interest them and respond creatively to this. Ultimately, they seek to communicate with the rest of the world the results of their copious explorations.
Aggelika Korovessi draws inspiration from the fact that man, aside from mental intelligence, also possesses a form of bodily intelligence – that is, he/she perceives things also with his/her body without the interference of consciousness. Throughout her career in art, Korovessi has shown great interest in the relationship between sound and image and by extension language. She discovered that an object brings out a fine sound when it has a beautiful shape, and the shape is considered beautiful when it occurs at the right time. After years of research she managed to create works of art that visualise sound waves. The sound wave conventionally records the vibration of sound through time. This way, words give birth to shapes. Following her research Korovessi was surprised to see how the sound waves morphologically resemble the meaning of the words that created them. She is interested in the messages produced by visualising the sound of every letter in the alphabet as well as the shapes produced by their sequence as words, such as “fish”, “struggle”, and “peace”. For example, the sound wave of the word “snake” or “worm” has a long and slim shape, similar to the visual impression of the actual object. Furthermore, the sound waves of the words “bee” or “fly” morphologically differ in a way that raises questions about the procedure behind creating their names. On the façade of her workshop, which is situated in the ancient Municipality of Teithra, today’s Pikermi in the eastern part of Attica, she has encircled the sound wave of the word “ego” (I). Besides its interesting shape (the balanced volume of the letter “e” and the even louder volume of “o” are connected by the thin shape of the consonant “g” in between them), it has for the artist great conceptual significance.
Korovessi studied in the Athens School of Fine Arts that was located in the facilities of the National Technical University of Athens at the time. The neighbouring National Archaeological Museum was not just a respected institution but also an accessible mentor. She was quite familiar with the museum’s exhibits. Although the works she produced might not have been created with the intention of continuing the tradition of ancient art, there is an underlying, subconscious connection with them. Thus, when the Minister of Culture proposed an exhibition which would constitute a conversation between ancient works and her own, the reasoning behind the exhibition became of importance. A careful exhibition proposal under the title “Time, Forms, Concept” was submitted to the Central Archaeological Council of Greece, and met its approval. The actions that followed were cautious and the exhibition was developed with further research, programme and new creation of works until its final realisation. The interesting and positive result of the exhibition is due to the positive and optimistic predisposition of the artist.
Korovessi perceives her works as opening pathways that negotiate the heavy burden of life. Her art is so amply filled with meanings that it takes patience and in-depth study to understand it in its entirety. Her works are proof that the human eye and ear have such inexhaustible potential that the mind cannot even begin to perceive in any way other than through art. With her works, Korovessi sensitises spectators to elements of nature that exist without being immediately perceived.
· The work named “Evolution Disc” was mainly influenced by the spiral script of the “Phaistos Disc”, but bears references to primordial art in general. With its letterless form, the disc as shape is the point from which the artist sets out to present her theory in three different languages – image, letter, sound. It begins from a meaningless smudge in its centre and then spirally renders sound waves accompanied by their shapes. This work follows the artist’s notion that, in chaos, bodies are articulated through sounds and subsequently images create language. Sound is the fuel that powers everything, an everpresent stimulation. Essentially, life is sound. The sound and the movement are so tightly intertwined that they cannot possibly be separated. The spiral’s long course terminates in the concept of peace.
· The work “Rowing” enters a conversation with the Mycenaean seafaring, and is exhibited next to relevant findings.
· “Sonic Alphabet” is a more recent work created with a rationalism that brings to mind the strict rules of the Geometric Period. It was created with the sole purpose of initiating a conversation with the “Dipylon Amphora”, in the surface of which the Greek phonetic alphabet appeared for the first time. The sound waves of the Greek alphabet are in such a way placed on the frame of Korovessi’s work, set up horizontally, with a parallel or diagonal inclination towards the sides, so that they can be read from every angle. It is based on a parallelepiped of different spaces that create golden sections.
· “Flocking”, in which the diagonal forms fly successively from one to the next, enters in a conversation with the archaic “Nike” whose body runs notionally from one soldier to the next.
· The tectonic rhythm of the squared forms of “Kouroi”, which have four main aspects despite the motion statement of the foot, enter in a conversation with “Transmutations I & II”, both of which are standing, phallic as well as totemic symbols. Aside from the details, the common denominator here is verticality.
· The work “Bonds” has been made with the use of the harrow, an archaic agricultural tool. Entering in a conversation with the two loving brothers, “Dermis and Kitilos”, Korovessi’s work implies that love between people needs cultivation in order to develop.
· The “Balancer” converses with the mightiest god-man, the “Artemision Zeus”. Zeus’ firm body stance is an indicator of godly power over all the states of man. Korovessi’s balancer, on the other hand, is an exhausted human being, a god of his own self, a figurine on a huge semicircle managing to balance on convergent movements.
· The work “Agon” (Game), which contains in its sound wave representations of sports, wonderfully befits the museum hall that hosts athletes and relevant votive offerings.
· “Horsepowers”, which combines the motorcycle with a modern day knight, running at maximum speed in a frenzy, converses with the “Jockey of Artemision”, whose horse (and especially its nostrils) embodies the ultimate dynamism of speed.
· “Air”, with its reed-like gongs, is presented in the museum hall dedicated to the worship of nature, refers to the power that activates Pan’s pipes and seduces the Nymphs.
· The sound wave of the word “Eros” is presented along with ancient sculptures which are all related to Aphrodite.
· Placing the soundwaves of the words “Peace” and “Paz” opposite each other creates a fluctuating composition that converses with the aesthetic order on the pediment of the Temple of Asclepius, which represents the Trojan War.
· The work “Ydor” (Water) presents the sound wave of the word in a wooden pirogue. Placed in the museum hall that hosts funerary steles, it refers to the boat of Charon that crosses the Acherusian Lake.
· “Sea Travellers” is a work made up of different versions of the sound wave for the word “salachi” (ray), standing on stretched strings that vibrate by the surrounding sounds. This composition is reminiscent of the bottom of the sea that once was home to the “Antikythera Ephebe”.
· The work “Woman – Line races” portrays a seated figure shaped by the empty spaces between the lines. In contrast with other seated statues belonging to the ancient Stone Age, Korovessi’s figure bears a negative meaning of imprisonment.
· “Freedom” is a composition made up of birds. In ancient funerary stelae, birds are a symbol of departing life. In Korovessi’s work, birds are a symbol of surpassing gravity and exceeding boundaries, of which the most supreme is death.
· “Zoë” (Life) consists of the sound wave of the word in the shape of stretched strings against an anthropomorphic music box. Morphologically resembling in shape the nearby Roman Sarcophagus, the spectators are invited to activate this instrument using sound, which symbolises life.
The importance of the Korovessi’s exhibition “Time, Form, Concept” in the National Archaeological Museum is apparent to anyone who has studied it from beginning to end. It is the first time in Greece that contemporary works come face to face with ancient ones. Such a correlation is greatly needed in today’s world of art. It is down to specialist scientists to judge whether there is reason to bring temporally different works in conversation with each other. When they do, it is useful that expert professionals consider the prospect of presenting such exhibitions. The exhibition’s success will present itself in the most natural and unforced way. When that dialogue succeeds, the works of art, as vital anchors of culture and civilisation, are perceptibly activated and metaphysically radiate signals amongst each other. Invisible energy exchanges take place that can be felt by both the initiated and uninitiated spectator.
Greece, as a country amply filled with antiquities from every possible era, is in need of such dialogues, in order to demonstrate the continuity from one period to the other, but also to highlight the close connection between the past and our times.