Open AccessAthens in Play
Author(s) -
Elina Lex
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
contingent horizons
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2292-7514
pISSN - 2292-6739
DOI - 10.25071/2292-6739.62
Subject(s) - situated , socioeconomic status , agency (philosophy) , citizen journalism , meaning (existential) , ethnography , politics , context (archaeology) , sociology , function (biology) , media studies , aesthetics , public relations , political science , social science , history , epistemology , art , law , anthropology , computer science , population , philosophy , demography , archaeology , artificial intelligence , evolutionary biology , biology
This paper explores the significance of experimental art spaces in the context of the political and socioeconomic crisis in Athens, Greece. Through ethnographic research, the aim is to examine where these galleries are situated in the socioeconomic moment but also, more significantly, how engaging in them can play an important role to a culture under crisis. By examining “play” through the disciplines of games, participatory, and interactive art, I address the social function of play and how it occupies a meaningful place in one’s social life despite being a separate mode of experiencing the world. Specifically, this paper investigates how the act of being “caught up” in play facilitates social connection, meaning, relief, stimulation, and agency in times of crisis.