Amanda aka ata rata tede paka sanda ata ambo osa kata rike eke banda ata rike tivi asa ta
Paula White

This incomprehensible sentence is a famous excerpt from a sermon by Paula White (Trump’s personal evangelical spiritual adviser) in Trump’s reelection rally. In its absolute absurdity, this gift of tongues epitomizes an era considered bygone already. This rhythmic spasm becomes the leitmotif of Chloroquine Juggalo, Kostis Stafylakis’s solo show at KEIV ATHENS.

Stafylakis presents videos, filmed material, social media posts, tiktok acts, amateur rap music, interviews, online cosplay, and sculptural installations that document his slow immersion into the culture of American Juggalos. Juggalos are followers of the ICP (Insane Clown Posse) rap duet and of other horrorcore bands. The name Juggalo stemmed from ICP’s 1992 song “the Juggla”, and stands for an urban subculture of inclusion and acceptance, accompanied by the contradictions of a mass social and cultural movement. Juggalos have described themselves as “scrubs” – the sprouts of the deindustrialization of Detroit and other American industrial hubs. ICP lyrics are transpired by horror, serial killers, fantasy, and class-struggle mixed with magic and acceptance. Many Juggalos carry tattoos with the hatchet-clown, paint up as evil clowns, wrestle, use the “whoop whoop” salute, send “mmfwcl” (much mother-fucking wicked clown love) to each other and spray themselves with Faygo (a colored Detroit soda drink) during The Gathering of the Juggalos, their annual festival. But beyond this partial description, their social perception of the world is inspired by the Dark Carnival, a mythology/ethical system developed around the characters of six jokers, introduced by various ICP albums. In 2017, ICP and friends organized the Juggalo March in Washington DC to protest their criminalization by the FBI. Accidentally, Trump supporters were rallying at the same spot, on the same day. Clashes between juggalos and the alt-right were reported.

Chloroquine Juggalo is the persona forged by Stafylakis to socialize online with the communities of this diverse and controversial American subculture. Like all Juggalos, Chloroquine Juggalo has a favorite horror gimmick: he consumes chloroquine in various forms. He’s “heard a lot good stories about it”. Throughout the quarantines, Stafylakis indulged in studying and infiltrating distant, mostly American, subcultures from afar. Today, conspiracy theories like QAnon owe their popularity to the collective enjoyment in horrific fantasies, to the uncanny feeling generated by conspiratorial mythmaking. The awkward ideas of Pizzagate and QAnon, about elite networks of blood-sucking pedophiles, illustrate fantasies with global reach. Stafylakis thinks with the Juggalos to experience horror as navigation through the dark imaginary that apparently mobilizes our fractured reality.

A production by Kostis Stafylakis and KEIV

Art direction / sculpture : Kostis Stafylakis

Art work / technical and material consulting: Konstantinos Lianos

Art work assistant : Orestis Karalis

Realized with the valuable help and participation of No Rules Gym Athens (Exarcheia – Zonara)

Featuring: Vassilis Bacalis, Marilena Batali, Mike Boukas, Katerina Exertzoglou, Lefteris Kaliarntas, Yiorgos Maniatis, Kostis Stafylakis, Savvas Tsimouris, Thano Vessi

Interview: Lilsyko303 aka KANNIBAL KANNABIS

Camera: Nysos Vasilopoulos, Alekos Bourelias, Perikles Mathielis

Editing: Mana Raver, Christos Bourelias, Perikles Mathielis, Aris Christakis

Lights: Nysos Vasilopoulos

Music samples by BoxxaB, KANNIBAL KANNABIS, TWISTED PSYCHO, TWIZTID

Special thanks: NATSIS Architects

Exhibition Opening: 26 June 2021, 20:00-23:00

Duration: 26 June – 10 July and 1 – 4 September 2021
11-31 July by appointment only
Opening Times: Wednesday – Saturday 20:00-23:00

Address: Kalymnou 38