Nikos Branidis CV

[cv] Nikos Branidis artist & activist b. 1974 in Athens, GR lives and works in Athens, GR www.nikbran.com nikbran@gmail.com Nikos Branidis holds a BA in Mathematics from University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Nikos have been making art in the form of written poetry, photography, video, performance, objects, sculptures since 1992. He has give lessons of history, theory of photography and darkroom techniques in Athens, Greece. Nikos Branidis’ artwork have been shown at Maison Maca, Athens,GR, Art Athina Art Fair in Athens,GR, at Banja Rathnov Gallery in Copenhagen,DK and at CAN Gallery, Athens,GR and BIOS, Athens,GR as in many other group shows in Greece. Nikos has published a poetry book. Nikos was part of the Syntagma Square occupation movement and a resident of the square for 2 months during the summer 2011. Nikos Branidis has been a performer and actor of his own performances and video-works, and also participated in other artists’ performances. Nikos has performed at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Athens, GR, Remap Art Festival, Athens, GR and at Banja Rathnov Gallery, Copenhagen, DK and PAO performance art festival, Oslo, NO. His short film "Toothbrushes" has won various prizes and shown internationally.

Macao

Emanuele Braga:
hi to all
this is some info asking your a support for macao...
Dear ...,
we are writing to you because you have had the chance to be involved with Macao betweeen 2012 and 2017.
If the news has already reached you, please bear with us.
Otherwise, you might be interested to know that Macao, the New Center for Arts, Culture and Research in Milan (www.macaomilano.org) is currently under threat of eviction.

In this email we kindly ask you to show your support in every possible way you can. As you understand, it is a crucial moment for Macao:
it will be important for us to show to the city government an international support for what Macao is- from cultural institutions, art institutions, academies, universities, autonomous/international artists, groups, and curators from all over the globe.
Therefore we kindly ask for your participation, support, and visibility for our project. This will imply that your name and affiliation will be published on a list of supporters on our website. You can find here a kit in order to help you to spread the message:
    - instruction to add a ribbon to your website
    - some pics of the communication campaign
Along with this, feel free to share the news among your networks through all means of communication using #loveandbordello hashtag, or through your live events.

Ah, and we are creating an association that will be the legal tool to buy Macao. You are welcome to join it to show your support, even if you're not an Italian citizen, there's a form you can fill out and share at this address: www.macaomilano.org

Provided links:

Link to press in English:
http://www.macaomilano.org/spip.php?article453

If you want to know more about Macao you can read about it here:
http://www.macaomilano.org/spip.php?article166

Macao is an independent center for art, culture and research. Avoiding the creative industry paradigm, and trying to innovate the old idea of cultural institutions, we started to consider art production as a viable process for rethinking social change, elaborating independent political critique, and as a space for innovative governance and production models. Our research concerns the labour conditions in the creative industry and cultural sector, the right to the city and new forms of organization and technological solutions for cultural production. Macao is currently based in a former slaughterhouse in the middle of a huge abandoned area not so far from the center of the city; it has a cross-sectorial program hosting performing arts, cinema, visualarts, design, photography, literature, newmedia, hacking and the meetings of citizens committees. It is coordinated by an open assembly of artists and activists.

' Capitalistic home'

My sculpture ' capitalistic home', is not going very well, but I will not give it up, I will persist with patience until it gets somewhere. If I try to stabilize it more it will become a solid sculpture but it will gain weight . So it will loose its ability to fly which it still has now. But it cannot stay as it is cause the way it is going, it will soon be ' gone with the wind'. Yet if it is going to be a 'capitalist home',maybe it is meant to wither away the way it is, since we are now passing to a post capitalistic era as someone mentioned some days ago. So the capital's ways are proving invalid, bubbles that keep popping into nothing?,hopefully yes,unfortunately for 'my piece of art'. So, back to the sculptor's endeavors, I still have some ideas how to solidify it but still maintain its perishlike character. Let's see!

17-18march presentation

Hello, my name is Athina Chatzigiannaki, I am a fine artist -performer, I joined the Arists Coperative group a few weeks ago. So I am still new in it myself, I am quite drawn to it because it is self organizing to a big extend , which is challenging for me, but on the other hand I am not alone and it is not my iniitiative all together, although I must contribute in some level for it to exist. Thinking about what to propose to you today since I have been given the chance, I was impressed by how little my mind evolved around art. This is very strange about me, cause usually I come up with ideas about art projects rather easily. So I decided to ask you to come up with your own proposals after I explain to you how far we have already worked in our group. The last two weeks we've been elaborating on coming up with a vision that I dare say, contains us all so far. It is not unchangeable but for the time it looks like we agreed upon certain points such as :solidarity between us 1, reexamine the relation we have as individual artists but as sociery as well, with the power centers that engage with art.2. Try to reveal hidden ways the capital is using and decide what to do with them , use them to our own benefit or go up straight against them. Example: It was proposed from documenta toward the artists cooperative to carry the sitting blocks from parko eleftherias to east whee I understand events will be held, possibly our own or /and others. Now that could me looked upon in many ways. I must admit that my first reaction was that we are not slaves, so we don't engage in this at all, then I thought we could take the blocks and sort of kidnapp them midway , set them up and make our own assembly where we could vote for the moto 'down to the center's of power in culture's, for instance Or better reexamine in an assembly our relation as artists with those centers and maybe also differentiate them. We could also have a simple questionnaire to impose to people passing by while invite them to participate in the assembly as well. Or we could just demonstrate dealing in the assembly with some other more general issue avoiding to go straight against certain organizations, but make ourselves visible with our own voice. The truth is we may do a lot of things with those sitting blocks performatively and politically.We can block the traffic if we have a good reason for it or make a political statement where the Truman statue used to be or do some parkour if we know what we are doing , it depends who participates and what we come up with. Maybe you have some more ideas to go about this. My intial idea was to go painting in different platias in the city and see if and how people react to what we are doing , their type of involvement . I propose big group painting where everybody can participate ,more professional painters along with amateurs and people that never painted before). We could encourage people to participate , throw in themes that they would initiate participation or just let free imagination express itself. Then our long paintings,(plastic colours on thick paper, or paper collage with flour glue),along with documentary filming could be presented at an event on the 11th of April, a date that is offered by documenta to the artists cooperative. This could lead to an assembly discussion about creativity and self expression of people ànd the meaning of initiatives as such, or however our topic gets formed, which could be held in the same event. In the space where this event would happen there could be a selection of relevant other art presented as well , either from documenta selected artists or other artist work selected by the artists coop or I don't know how to go about this. To be honest I would like to have a chance to present my latest sculpture the 'capitalistic home'.

An ad concerning the new fashion magazine 'As If''.

First I have to explain briefly the nature of the first issue of the magazine.
It is about paper wearable costumes,  tailor made especially for each of you. The costume is based on a wish you have for a specific item (like  a refrigerator or a special jacuzzi bath), or an action you wish to make (like a trip for example, hijacking will be difficult to support).
We enlarge photos of what you wish for and add adequate printing  money.
So that will be the material your costume will be made off.
Then you model wearing your costume for the magazine 'As If''.!
Needless to think much about it , just email me .
I am looking forward to meeting my models,
☆☆☆☆any shape and size of person you are , is more than welcome☆☆☆☆☆