In 2014 I started designing and creating a series of board games on the theme of the financial, social and political crisis in Greece and Europe. The games can be viewed and played separately, or as parts of an extended installation.

The games are used as a means to provoke and encourage interaction with the audience. While playing, the participants have to answer questions that demand of them to reflect on moral dilemmas and to take a stand on several pressing issues. The aim is to engage the audience in an open discussion on the social changes and conflicts of our times, on the problems of the justice system, on corruption, on cultural differences, on violations of civil and individual rights, on work exploitation, on corporate claims, etc.

 

For the installation “The Amazing Board Game Club: Extended Edition¨, I displayed my board games ‘Pawn Shop’ and ‘Save The Pensioner’ along with a shelf stacked with boxes of different imaginary board games. Their titles are thus combined, as to lead to ambivalent interpretations which challenge politically correct attitudes.

Despite the fact that the boxes are created and look exactly as if they were real board game boxes, the reality is that they contain no actual game boards. However, viewed together with the board games that have in fact been produced and can be played, they create the impression of a sort of pluralism and aim to provoke the viewers’ curiosity.

As parts of the installation, these unexpectedly empty board game boxes, deal with different concepts such as the idea of a realistic approach to my own artistic explorations, which may be summed up in my quest to turn a problematic situation to a game, so as to make it more clear and understandable; a quest which can however often lead to an impasse, because of its inherent inability to suggest clear cut solutions.

These board game boxes which stand empty of content wish to convey, through their titles, utopian expectations and frustrated wishes. One eloquent example would be the game by the title “Go Left, The Game That Will Exhaust You”.