Demetris Charalambous
Demetris Charalambous is an NYC based maker born and raised in Cyprus. They create bodies of work that aim to intersect performance, video art, and technology.
4Ac: How has living in NYC shaped you as an artist? How does your home country shape you as an artist?
DEMETRIS: I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN CYPRUS, SPECIFICALLY IN NICOSIA, THE WORLD'S LAST DIVIDED CAPITAL. I AM FASCINATED BY HOW THE REALITY OF THE UN BUFFER ZONE–A MILITARIZED BORDER ZONE GUARDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS, DIVIDING THE ISLAND–IS AN ORDINARY REALITY TO EVERYONE THERE. IT WAS ONLY AFTER LEAVING CYPRUS THAT I TRULY UNDERSTOOD THE INTRICATE NATIONAL DISCUSSIONS THAT ARISE SURROUNDING IDENTITY, DISPLACEMENT, AND THE ELUSIVE IDEA OF HOME. I BELIEVE THAT THESE CONCEPTS ARE DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN MY PERSPECTIVE AND ARE SHARED BY EVERY CYPRIOT, OFTEN FROM A YOUNG AGE. BOTH MY PARENTS BECAME WAR REFUGEES IN THE 70’S, A FACT WHICH FORCIBLY UPROOTED THEM FROM THEIR HOMES. I WOULD ARGUE THAT THIS BACKGROUND INFORMATION IS INSTRUMENTAL SO AS TO BE ABLE TO CONTEXTUALIZE THE ROOTS OF MY WORK, NOT SO MUCH IN AN OVERTLY POLITICAL CONTEXT BUT MORE SO AS TO THE ABSTRACT IDEAS SURROUNDING IT.
I THINK THAT MUCH OF CYPRUS' GENERATIONAL AND CULTURAL TRAUMA STEMS FROM A STRUGGLE WITH ERASURE, ATTEMPTING TO RECONCILE AN ABSTRACT HOMOGENOUS IDENTITY THAT, IN REALITY, IS AN AMALGAMATION OF VARIOUS CULTURAL IDENTITIES. WHILE I FELT THAT IT WAS IMPERATIVE FOR ME TO LEAVE HOME DUE TO THE SUBSTANTIAL LACK OF ARTS INFRASTRUCTURE, I DO DESIRE TO ELEVATE CYPRUS' GLOBAL PRESENCE. I HAVE A COMPLEX AND PROFOUND CONNECTION WITH MY HOMELAND AND THAT IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN MY PERSPECTIVE AS AN ARTIST.
I MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY IN 2019 TO STUDY DANCE AND I REMEMBER THAT THE IMMEDIATE FEELING WAS THAT OF COMPLETE HARMONY. ALTHOUGH MOVING TO A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF ISLAND, I FELT A PROFOUND SENSE OF HOME AND BELONGING HERE. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE WHERE I FELT THAT MY INTERNAL RHYTHM HAD SYNCED UP WITH MY SURROUNDINGS AND I FINALLY FELT AT PEACE AND ORGANIZED IN COMPLETE AND TOTAL CHAOS. I’M CERTAIN THAT ANYONE THAT HAS EVER HAD THE BLESSING TO LIVE IN THIS CITY KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. MY QUEER FAMILY HAS PLAYED A PROFOUND ROLE IN MY EVOLUTION BOTH AS AN ARTIST AND AS A PERSON. FINDING MY COMMUNITY HERE HAS BEEN THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL CONTEXTUALIZATION FOR MY WORK AND IT HAS RADICALLY SHAPED WHAT THE WORK MEANS.
NEW YORK HAS ALLOWED ME TO CONSTRUCT AN IDENTITY SEPARATE FROM MY CYPRIOT ONE, BUT IN MANY WAYS IS STILL INFLUENCED BY IDEAS SURROUNDING HOME. I THINK IN MANY WAYS MY WORK HAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE ABOUT ARRIVING HOME.
4Ac: What are some recurring themes in your work? Why are they important to you?
DEMETRIS: AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, A RECURRING THEME IN MY WORK REVOLVES AROUND THE CONCEPT OF FINDING HOME, WHETHER THAT MANIFESTS AS A PHYSICAL PLACE OR AN INTERNAL STATE OF BEING. I’M FASCINATED BY THE PERISHABLE NATURE OF OUR BODIES AND I SUSPECT THAT THE DESIRE FOR HOME IS ROOTED IN CONTEMPLATIONS SURROUNDING MORTALITY AND TIME.
I PERCEIVE THE ACT OF CREATING ART AS A METHOD OF IMMORTALIZING ONE’S SELFHOOD, A WAY OF PRESERVING MY ARTISTIC DNA IN A FORM CAPABLE OF TRANSCENDING MY TRANSITORY EXISTENCE. ART MAKING IS MY OWN PERSONAL MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION, IT ALLOWS ME TO WITHSTAND NATURAL SELECTION BY IMBUING MY ESSENCE IN A FORM EXTERNAL TO MINE. OF COURSE THIS IS TRICKY WHEN IT COMES TO SPECIFICALLY CREATING DANCE, SINCE THE MEDIUM ITSELF–MY BODY–IS THE MOST TRANSIENT OF THEM ALL.
MY PRACTICE FOR DANCE MAKING THUS TAKES DIRECT INSPIRATION FROM THE PHILOSOPHIES OF THE FLUXUS MOVEMENT. I BELIEVE THAT BY CRAFTING WORK THAT ACTIVATES A SPACE WITH A VERY SPECIFIC SET OF RULES AND PARAMETERS, I AM ABLE TO SIMULATE MICROCOSMS GOVERNED BY THEIR OWN INTERNAL SELF SUSTAINING LOGIC–AN INVENTION OF RELATIONAL PHYSICS. IN DOING SO, I ‘IMPRINT’ MY MIND ONTO A HAPPENING THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN ANY SPACE AT ANY TIME, PROVIDED THE SPECIFIC SET OF RULES ARE IN PLACE.
4Ac: A recent collaboration of yours, “SEER,” was recently featured in Nowness Asia. Tell us about the project. You were Movement Director, Creative Director, and Performer. What is your approach to balancing those roles?
DEMETRIS: CREATING "SEER" WITH MY COLLABORATOR TONY WANG WAS A LONG JOURNEY FILLED WITH INTROSPECTION AND DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE FILM'S INTENDED THEMATIC CONTENT. WE INITIALLY FILMED THE FOOTAGE THROUGHOUT 2021, BUT IT WAS ONLY IN THE SPRING OF 2023 THAT WE TRULY CAME TOGETHER TO COMPLETE IT. REVISITING THE FOOTAGE AFTER THIS SIGNIFICANT PASSAGE OF TIME WAS A FASCINATING PROCESS. WE FOUND OURSELVES NEEDING TO RECONTEXTUALIZE IT BASED ON OUR CURRENT EVOLVED UNDERSTANDING OF OUR MEDIUMS, AND THAT BECAME IN MANY WAYS THE CENTRAL THESIS OF THE FILM. THIS PROCESS OF TAPPING INTO PAST INFORMATION TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO IT SERVED AS A CATHARTIC EXERCISE AND IT TAUGHT US THE IMPORTANCE OF LETTING GO OF OLD IDEAS IN ORDER TO MAKE SPACE FOR NEW ONES TO FLOURISH.
THE POST PRODUCTION PROCESS CONSISTED OF COUNTLESS LATE NIGHT EDITING SESSIONS WHERE WE BOTH METICULOUSLY DISSECTED EVERY SINGLE FRAME OF THE FILM. THIS WAS SUCH A PROFOUND EXPERIENCE BECAUSE BOTH OF US POSSESS SUCH AN EXTREME ATTENTION TO DETAIL WHICH AT TIMES DROVE US A BIT CRAZY BUT IN THE BEST, MOST REWARDING WAY POSSIBLE. SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION IS A LOT LIKE LOVEMAKING; IT DEMANDS A DELICATE BALANCE OF COMPROMISE AND SHARED PASSION, NECESSITATING A FUSION OF PERSPECTIVES. IT'S ABOUT UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER'S VIEWPOINTS, REACHING AGREEMENTS, AND EMBRACING DISAGREEMENTS, ALL WHILE GRANTING EACH OTHER INTIMATE ACCESS TO OUR MINDS.
I HAD AN INSTRUMENTAL PART BOTH IN FRONT AND BEHIND THE CAMERA AND I THINK THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY THAT THIS PROJECT COULD HAVE MATERIALIZED. BALANCING THESE ROLES WAS A VERY CONSCIOUS PROCESS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. BEING THE SUBJECT IN A FILM CAN MANY TIMES FEEL THAT THE RESULTS OF THE FINAL WORK IS OUT OF YOUR REACH AND THAT IS USUALLY THE CASE. PERSONALLY, I DON'T LIMIT MYSELF TO JUST BEING A DANCER. I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT ELEMENTS THAT EXTEND BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING OF MOVEMENT AND THUS SO MUCH OF OUR COLLABORATION WITH TONY WAS CHARACTERIZED BY IMPROVISATION AND SPONTANEOUS DECISIONS THAT WE BOTH SHARED THE SAME PASSION FOR. WE ENGAGED IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT IMAGERY AND DIRECTED THE FILM AS WE PROGRESSED AND THIS PROCESS LED US TO DEVIATE FROM THE INITIAL STORYBOARD, A DEPARTURE I BELIEVE WAS INTEGRAL TO ESTABLISHING OUR OWN COLLABORATIVE FLOW.
4Ac: Given the present context of the art making communities you operate with: funding cuts, more and more focus on AI and virtual content, inflation, historically DIY, etc. What do you think about success?
DEMETRIS: WE LIVE IN TIMES WHERE TECHNOCRATIC CORPORATE CONTROL IS QUITE LITERALLY MONOPOLIZING ART AND THAT RESULTS IN A HOMOGENIZATION OF CULTURE. THIS IS ESPECIALLY EVIDENT IN INDUSTRIES SUCH AS FILM, TELEVISION, PUBLISHING OR STREAMING WHERE CONSUMERS ARE MARKETED A VERY LIMITED AND CURATED SELECTION OF CONTENT BY GIANT INDUSTRY SERVICES. THIS CONSEQUENTLY CAUSES ORIGINALITY TO SUFFER, AS MUCH OF THE ART PRODUCED IS DRIVEN BY CONSUMERIST IDEOLOGY SOLELY FOCUSED ON PROFIT.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE PERFORMING ARTS IN PARTICULAR, IT ALSO APPEARS THAT INSTITUTIONS ARE INCREASINGLY RESEMBLING TECH COMPANIES WHOSE CONTENT JUST HAPPENS TO BE ART RELATED. INSTITUTIONAL POWER COMBINED WITH INFLATION AND FUNDING CUTS CREATES A DEPENDENCY ON BENEFACTORS OF CULTURE IN ORDER TO GAIN VISIBILITY. THIS DEPENDENCE LEADS TO A FOCUS ON MASS APPEAL AND IN MY OPINION PREVENTS TRUE ARTISTIC INNOVATION FROM HAPPENING.
FROM A VERY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, MY EFFORTS TO OBTAIN AN ARTIST VISA IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE ALSO FELT AT TIMES LIKE AN IMPOSSIBLE LEGAL BATTLE WHERE I AM SCRUTINIZED FOR MY LACK OF DESIRE TO CONFORM TO A CERTAIN MODEL OF A “SUCCESSFUL ARTIST”. IN THIS BUREAUCRATIC CONTEXT, THERE IS A VERY SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT SUCCESS IN THE ARTS LOOKS LIKE AS THE WAY THAT I AM FORCED TO QUANTIFY MY SUCCESS IS IN RELATION TO ITS MASS APPEAL AND COMMERCIAL VALUE. OF COURSE AS I STATED EARLIER, THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS FOR THE WORK TO BE UNIVERSAL AND TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO A BROADER AUDIENCE BUT HOW DO WE DO THAT WITHOUT SACRIFICING ITS INTEGRITY? THAT’S A QUESTION I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER TO. MAYBE IT HAS TO DO WITH HOW AUDIENCES ARE CONDITIONED TO CONSUME CONTENT. CULTURE NEEDS TO CHANGE FIRST AND ASSERT ITSELF IN ORDER FOR THE INSTITUTIONS TO FOLLOW, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
INVENTING ART INSTEAD OF RECYCLING IT. TO SEARCH FOR A NEW ERA IS A RADICAL EFFORT. I THINK THE FUTURE IS ABOUT CREATING INSTITUTIONS OUT OF OURSELVES, TO PRESERVE OUR LEGACIES ON OUR OWN TERMS. I GUESS UNDOUBTABLE SUCCESS IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT WHAT THE WORK ITSELF DOES AND NOT THE CONTEXT IT IS PRESENTED IN.
