The Hermit

The Hermit by Viron Erol Vert at the Museum of Contemporary Art  (EMST) , Athens.

An immersive installation created in 2023 especially for the museum, inspired  by the work of Yannis Xenakis, the subject of two major exhibitions at EMST at the moment. It aims to explore several aspects of the avant-garde composer, architect and mathematician's practice as well as highlight the influence he has had on contemporary musicians and sound artists.

In his research, Vert focused particularly on Xenakis' early works such as Six Chansons for Piano (1950-51), a short piano suite, which contains many elements of Romanian and Greek folk music. At the time of the piece's composition, Xenakis stated that he was searching for his cultural roots: 'I was trying to find my identity, and my Greek origins suddenly became important to me... Mussorgsky and Bartok reminded me that I had to understand and love Greek folk music'. Subjects such as belonging, migration, speech sound, beat, and the rhythm of his native geography were analysed in Xenakis' early compositions. All contistute, in one way or another, cornerstones of his work.

The process of searching for one's cultural roots and identity is something Vert personally relates to due to the complex nature of his own background. Coming from Turkish, Greek, Arab, Levantine, Armenian and Sephardic roots, Vert recognised in these early works of Xenakis, a curious, and experimental approach that resonated with him, qualities that inform The Hermit.

Vert's installation brings together different elements that Xenakis also deployed in his practice, such as architectural models, mathematics, geometric shapes or, for example, the Fionacci sequence (in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones).

The Hermit, ultimately, is an immersive, interactive gathering space with a nightclub-inspired aesthetic which is at times, filled with sounds composed by contemporary experimental musicians (both local and international). At the same time, the six windchimes at its centre, transform the space itself into a musical instrument. 

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Visitors are invited to immerse themselves and enjoy the enveloping audio-visual environment the artist has created. There were no musicians when we visited, but we had a wonderful time playing with the wind chimes, creating different and complementary sounds. We played for so long that someone from the exhibition next door came to have a look at what was going on. When we finished, we went to look at two other exhibitions on the top floor, then came down and played some more. It was great fun.

We did however, not know any of this as we approached, intending to take the stairs to the next floor. We just saw this red light and decided to investigate. 

We were immediately hooked.

The windchimes, the seating, the colours, the shapes - totally immersive

We started playing with the windchimes

and from time to time others came too

I went up to the 'red' window

and had a look outside - Lycabettus hill in the distance

then went up to the lilac window

and had a look.

We had such fun!

Had another look at the view outside from a window a floor up, just to compare.

When we finished we went up to the roof of the building where the views are spectacular

Lycabettus Hill

The Acropolis

zooming in.