THE BEAR'S DEN
@ WE ARE ALL MADE OF STARS

The Bear's Den
A video-installation by by Kostis Stafylakis in the framework of We Are All Made of Stars, curated by Domna Gounari at MOMus Experimental Center for the Arts, Thessaloniki, 12 December 2024-23 February 2025.

Kostis Stafylakis presents The Bear’s Den at MOMus Experimental Center for the Arts. 

The video installation The bear’s den belongs to the most recent chapter of Kostis Stafylakis’ work titled GZPRM GOPNIK. In this section, Stafylakis focuses on the ways in which contemporary Russian/Slavic identity is constructed and circulated online.

In his recent solo exhibitions, such as GZPRM GOPNIK (KEIV ATHENS, 2023) and On an island (K-Gold Temporary Gallery, 2024), the image of the Slavic/Russian gopnik dominates—wearing full-body adidas tracksuits, ushankas, dress shoes, and listening to early techno. Through online channels such as Squatting Slavs in Tracksuits, Look at this Russian, DJ Blyatman, etc., the image of the gopnik becomes solidified as a meme, algorithmically representing post-Soviet Russian everyday life as surreal, wild, paradoxical, and rough-edged.

As a result of this obsessive consumption of material from contemporary Russia, the algorithm “infected” the artist’s timeline, flooding it with reels showing bears cooperating with Russians: a bear helping Russians with their workouts, an influencer posing while hugging bears, someone feeding a bear with a fork.

In the installation The bear’s den, the viewer encounters filmed footage from the performance The bear (at the K-Gold Temporary Gallery), where Stafylakis performs surgery on a bear in order to extract various vintage Russian toys found inside its entrails. The bear costumes used in the performance—made with cosplay costume techniques and infused with references to fetishistic subcultures—are exhibited alongside the video footage, welcoming the viewer into a grotesque and at the same time tragicomic living room/slaughterhouse.

 

About the We Are All Made of Stars exhibition:

“We Are All Made of Stars: Digital media and new technologies in contemporary art practice”
12 December 2024-23 February 2025
MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts (Warehouse B1, Pier A, Thessaloniki Port)
Opening: Thursday 12 December 2024 | 20:00
 
The exhibition brings together both established and emerging artists, who are presenting new works and visual art proposals from the past decade, alongside with contributions from Fine and Applied Arts students, who participate with completed projects and works in progress; at the same time, the exhibition is the result of the collaboration of MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts with festivals, cultural organisations, workshops and artistic platforms -Video Art Miden, Ars Electronica, TILT platform- that promote digital art and new media.
 
The exhibition features a wide array of media, including video projections utilizing AI tools and 3D mapping techniques, animation, AI and VR environments, multimedia installations, digital prints, QR codes, and sound works conquer the exhibition venue of MOMus at the Thessaloniki Port. The primary inspiration for the works by participating artists arises from the latest scientific developments in understanding the composition of matter and the nature of the universe, the technologies associated with space exploration, as well as the prospects of space colonization. Furthermore, the exhibited works delve into profound questions about timeless social, political and environmental issues, which have captivated humanity since its earliest days, while also emphasizing the transformative role of new media in contemporary art.
Curated by: Domna Gounari, MOMus Curator
 

Participating artists: Katerina Athanasopoulou, Katerina Velliou & Evgenia Faliaridou, Babis Venetopoulos, Myrto Vounatsou & Stelios Dexis, Martin Carlé & Vasilis Agiomyrgianaki, Kyriaki Goni, Maxime Coton, Nefeli Dimitriadi, Δiμiiτρiii, Christine Drake-Thomas, Yiorgos Drosos, Elena Efeoglou, Apostolos Zerdevas, For Cancel (Takis Zerdevas, Zoi Pirini, Makis Faros), Gloria Gammer, Bassam Issa, Ayoung Kim, Yiannis Kranidiotis, Nikos Kostopoulos, Almagul Menlibayeva, Rebecca Merlic, Vicky Betsou, Fani Boudouroglou, Nourako, Gioula & Olga Papadopoulou, Ruini Shi, Marios Spiliopoulos, Electra Stamboulou, Kostis Stafylakis, Jullian Young, Valentina Ferrandes, Yujie Xu, Bill Psarras, Poyen Wang, Sven Windzus 

Participating students from the Multimedia Lab-ASFA, the Department of Visual & Applied Arts-AUTH and the Department of Photography and Audiovisual Arts- UNIWA: Nick Athanasakis, Eleftheria Amolochiti, Marianna Adiohou, Martha Vakouli, Nikos Venetopoulos, Eleni Gounari, Dione Diochnou, Yiannis Kaleridis, Konstantinos Kolatsos, Maria Kompatsiari, Katerina Korre, Marios Koffinas, Aigly Kyriakou, Kiriaki Lykouresi, Dimitris Mantadakis, Pelagia Mantonanaki, Emilia Massoura, Triantafyllia Ntouroupi, Irene Panagiotopoulou, Giannis Peltekis, Panagiotis Porichis, Nicos Pyromalis, Artemis Sartzetakis, Vasiliki Maria Sidiropoulou, John Stamatiou, Vaia Stolikidou, Alexis Tetsis, Simos Tokalakis, George Tsiakos.