FLOWERS OF THE UNCANNY VALEY

In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object’s resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object. The valley is the point at which one feels eeriness and awkwardness when coming face to face with a being of extreme human resemblance, which is not human. Sound artist Luc Messinezis invokes aural simulacra of ‘the order of sorcery’ and sculptor Yiannis Brouzos (Oannes) calls upon metal simulacra of the ‘order of maleficence’. Together in their work, Flowers from the Uncanny Valley, bring the valley into the realm of the real. They create a physical metaphor of a place where the fake and the real can no longer be distinguished. Within the valley, roles reverse and the ambler enters the chilling dream of the ‘precession of the simulacra’. Metal sculptural flower and plant mimicries, through a sonic process that conjures an artificial real-like soundscape without original, empowers the visitors to walk through an environment where the artificial seems real and the real emerges as the uncanny. Flowers from the Uncanny Valley is a fictitious experiential narrative hinting on elements of truth by opening up an inward dialogue regarding socio-political and environmental challenges of our time.

Luc Messinezis (GR)
Luc Messinezis is an artist and researcher working across sound, text, installation and audiovisual narratives. He holds an MA in sound arts awarded by the University of the Arts London and his practice oscillates between aural awareness, anthropology, notions of reality and authenticity. Luc usually aims to mediumizing the audience by placing them at the epicentre of the work and thus fusing gesture, aesthetics, message and narrative. Notable presentations of his work include Ars Electronica 2020 (Linz, Austria), minus20degree Festival 2020 (Flachau, Austria), Primarolia Festival 2019 (Egio, Greece), ADAF 2015 (Athens, Greece) and Ethnographic Terminalia 2011 (Montreal Canada) among others. He was nominated for the ScreenGrab7 Media Award 2015 (Townsville, Australia) for his work ‘The Modern book of Cynics’ while as an academic Luc has presented his work in a multitude of international conferences and authored several publications. Finally he is an active member of the Hellenic Society of Acoustic Ecology and currently scrutinizes ‘aural simulacra’ as a researcher at the Ionian University.

OANNES (Yiannis Brouzos) was born in Piraeus in 1977. He studied sculpture and artistic design alongside sculptor Babis Voutos and In 2002 he enrolled at the Athens University of Fine Arts where he continued his studies of sculpture with Prof. Thodoros Papagiannis. Scenography, Multimedia Art, Engraving and Painting, influenced and still influence his practice. In 2009 he graduated with the highest degree. He has presented his work in five Solo exhibitions in Athens, Korinthos, Tinos, Zakynthos and Eleusis and has participated in over fifty group exhibitions all over the world. His sculptures feature in several museums in Greece, as well as in international private collections. In 2017, the Social Organization of the Island of Symi ‘Panormitis’, awarded him with the first prize for his contribution in art. OANNES has participated in two symposia of Sculpture and his artworks feature in public spaces of Athens, Cyprus and Zakynthos. He currently lives and works between Athens and Vienna.