I started off my fifth week by working in the studio, this time with the angle grinder and a diamond blade, cutting all my found pieces of street and paving tiles and stones to approximately the same height and then cementing them into a mosaic. I continued working in the studio (mostly painting) on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. On Thursday, I took an early morning hike up Mount Lycabettus again with my new field biologist friend as he had located one of a wild male fox’s dens, and knew I’d like to see it! Fox time is even earlier than tortoise time, so afterward I had breakfast at a cafe on the mountain and then revisited my two tortoises. The smaller, likely female tortoise had just finished her repast and began to enter her burrow. The rest of the day I was back to work, and I kept it half of Friday as well… and then, it was installation time for my show.
I bought L-shaped installation screws from the local hardware store and installation went relatively smoothly… except for one wall, which after we laboriously installed most of Marginated (I paired one tile of it with one tile from Symbolism in a separate spot) had a too-big-to-ignore blank area, but it was too small for any other artwork. I really didn’t want to move Marginated, so I thought about it and realized that a small mirror would be conceptually powerful and aesthetically perfect. I’d titled my show Athenian Habitat, so a mirror puts the viewer into the ecosystem - which they are - and adds some actual life and movement into the exhibition. The next problem was where to find the right mirror! I thought it was possible one might be sold at the general store I purchased my tree slice from, and I was right… but they were only sold as a part of a mixed media home decor sculpture which had two circular mirrors but also several decorative tin discs and a metal rod and plate display.
I went to five other stores (a home goods store, a pharmacy, a supermarket, and two hardware stores) and none of them had what I wanted and weren’t sure exactly where to go though I was recommended Ikea (which is quite a distance away!). I didn’t want to spend another day or two hunting for another option, so I decided that one of the mirrors in the mixed media home decor sculpture would work… if I could get them off in one piece, as they were soldered onto the other metal design elements and armature.
I had to overpay for the components I wanted since they came attached to a bunch I didn’t, and then as I walked back I began just trying to dissemble it by hand. I got the smaller of the two mirrors involved off pretty easily! Then I started working on the big one as I arrived back at the gallery. Dimitri came over to try to help, but he shattered the larger one in his attempt. I eventually got it off anyhow, but the shattered glass was distracting rather than complementary so I went with the smaller of the mirrors.
On Saturday it was really hot, so I had intended to go to the Byzantine & Christian Museum but I ended up just going back to the studio to work. Dimitri and Maria put together a barbecue dinner (with some vegetarian options!) that evening in part to celebrate my exhibition opening, which was very fun! I did make my visit to the Byzantine Museum happen on Sunday, though, even though it was again really hot (due to the heat wave named Cerberus), and then Dimitri and Maria had such a nice time they wanted a redux dinner… but this time the police shut down their outdoor grilling. They persevered with hot plates and a griddle indoors, and I enjoyed their Za'atar pita dressing!
