In this early act, Stafylakis & Sepyrgioti examine the shifting economic framework of 2004 Athens, Greece. The action focuses on the area of Psyrri, an area that was heavily pedestrianised and gentrified in the years prior to the 2004 Olympic Games. This area used to be a hub for small/family industries of a local retail economy, and glass wool was the basic material in circulation. By 2004, bars, galleries, souvenir shops. clubs, and taverns had usurped urban space. By means of an awkward reversal, Stafylakis enters cafes, bars, industries, shops and gifts employees and owners with a small sculpture made out of wool. He presents the gift as an act of good will by an art gallery that had just opened in the area. After leaving the recipients in a puzzled state, Stafylakis returns to the same spots asking to buy the object back. The recipient is encouraged to name a price for this utterly pointless object. Stafylakis negotiates the price and buys the sculpture back, partaking in the production of surplus value.

The act was meant to expose constitutive entrapment in the reproduction of cultural capital. In such states of shared docility, there is no easy position of externality.

The act’s video documentation was presented at D624, between February 17th – March 1st 2005, a space founded by Anne-Laure Oberson at Psyrri. Visit the space’s website for more documentation here.

The work was also presented at the show Stin Exochi, Beltsios Collection, Trikala 28.5.2006 – 30.7.2006, curated by Sotirios Bachtsetzis. The work belongs to the Beltsios Collection.