ISLAND HOPPING II – I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

There are ways to tell a story. Start from the beginning, middle or end. Narrate events in chronological order, offering them their literal time, or blend them, evaluate and order them according to their importance for the outcome and mood of the story. You can designate characters, decide on one or multiple narrators, choose to tell the story in 1st or 3rd person, and insert dialogues and anecdotes.

Island Hopping departed from Nisyros in 2019 having as a final destination the island of Kastelorizo, the actual final destination of the boat line, with 5 passengers; the five artists and the island of Nisyros as a main character. Along the way, 2 more passengers joined the group, the two cars carrying the artwork created on the island to the next stops,in a sesne, bearing gifts from one place to the next. In the course of the story, the two cars took on the role of the narrator. Photos of the two cars in landmarks on the various stops provide evidence of the action before and after the camera click.

In 2020, Island Hopping II, will start its voyage from the port of Piraeus, the actual departure point of the boat line to Nisyros. Spatially, the action in this second part of the story is placed before the action in the first part. Conceptually, this time the participants will recreate (or rather reenact) scenes of the experience that have brought each one of them to Nisyros. Having the information, the experience and the understanding of the destination and the next stages of the story, they will create new, individual and collective narratives. It can be compared to a prequel of a story, where the second part of the story precedes chronologically the first.

By definition, island hopping refers to the crossing of a sea by travelling, or hopping, from one island to another as opposed to the long voyage towards the final destination where the intermediate stops are of no such importance as is the final destination. The exact meaning of the term refers to the crossing of sea mammals from one ocean to another, with clear reference to the crossing form the Caribbean Sea to the Americas.

Today, island hopping is associated with summer vacations on more than one island. The concept of migration, that is the movement from place to place until you reach the final destination, or at least without placing so much emphasis on either the destination or the intermediate stops. Is this the case, though, with the end of a story broken into smaller parts?

In 2019, the participants met on Nisyros. They had all been there previously, alone, or in different combinations. They had all worked with Sterna before. Therefore, they had developed a common language and experiences. Triggered by this, each artist brought forth aspects of their personal artistic practice, their own wishes and memories. They worked with what was born out of this on a series of artwork and actions which would never have come into being if it wasn’t for that particular group of people, at that particular place and time. It is why they can be thought of as original products of Nisyros, with an ability to travel back and forth in space and time.

In 2020, the data for Island Hopping II are condensed. The island-stops are places to discover elements of a story in progress. The findings will not only serve as the materials for new artwork and gifts, but also offerings to the island of Nisyros and its visitors. There are many ways to tell a story, and by twisting the facts/alter the events/data/facts a bit, a new, unique story unfolds/is born.

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The journey will begin with the presentation of the Island Hopping 2019 artwork on the boat to Nisyros which will then return with the new materials to their place of origin. This will be the first sequence of this new narrative, having as a reference point the first scene of the film “I know what you did last summer”.

LOCATION: Piraeus, Leipsoi, Leros, Kalymnos, Nisyros.

The outcomes of the hopping will be installed in various places around Nisyros from the 3rd to the 30th of August – MAP OF ARTWOKRS.

Special Thanks to Giorgos Chloros, mayor of Leipsoi Fotis Maggos, Giorgos Laountos, Natassa Koutsoliakou, Giorgos Trampoulis, Eirini Sideri Fraggou, Kalliopi Mavrou, Panagiotis Giamaios, Artemis Michailidou, Freddy Topi, Cava Drosia, Manos Karakonstantinos, Villy Asanska, Giorgos Maris, Katina Chazoglou.

With the support of ΝΕΟΝ Organisation for Culture and Development, The Municipality of Nisyros & Blue Star Ferries.