FANTASMATA
Eleusis Terracotta Army — Eleusis European Capital of Culture
2024
Fantasmata is a 16-channel, site-specific acoustic installation that accompanies the exhibition Mystery 111 Eleusis Terracotta Army. The work is based on field recordings collected in factories and other sites of labour in Elefsina and the wider Thriasian Plain. Sounds of machinery, tools, industrial processes, and working environments are composed into a multi-layered soundscape that reflects the material conditions and rhythms of manual labour in the area. Developed in dialogue with Juan Esteban Sandoval’s large-scale installation of terracotta helmets, Fantasmata acts as an aural portrait of Elefsina. By incorporating recordings from both active and abandoned sites, the work situates labour within overlapping temporalities: the enduring presence of work, the lingering traces of what has disappeared, and the echoes of ongoing transformation. The piece unfolds as a reflection on presence and absence, capturing the imprint of human labour in space and time. The factory is experienced not simply as a location, but as a living archive of gestures, movements, and vibrations.
