Kafeneon Day 25

It finally came.. the last day in kafeneon.. and just like many others it was filled with art, conversation, curiosity, and people. I was pretty calm as i figured out a major component to my performance for THE FINAL SHOW, and having finished compiling the videos, i was able to sit back and enjoy the last day! Lets see what happened shall we? I started the day by documenting THE FINAL SHOW… the videos are all great, mostly all under 5 minutes and very interesting work. Here is the front room…

looking back

the middle room with a projection room behind.

peaking in to see a video by David Maroto

and another projection room off the this middle room

and a compilation of images from the video show…no particular order.. AMAZING STUFF!!!

this last day had everything a last day should have.. like some tire changing LOUUUUUU!

and what better to wash down some manual labor with than an amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee

And Murray stopped by just as things started getting crazy with the performers and equipment started showing up. Just in time to have the LAST amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee at kafeneon.. well done Murray

here Jennifer and crew talking through the nights events

While Mary and her posse discuss their plan

and thats it for the coffee here at kafeneon.. ive met some great people, brushed up my Greek, served a many amazing cup of FREE Greek Coffee, watched the neighborhood go by, and have had a great time! thanks to all who stopped by! and now its time for THE FINAL SHOW.. can hardly stand it anymore..!!!

Kafeneon Day 24

Well today is that last day of kafeneon.. it has been an amazing ride.. tonight is THE FINAL SHOW…you can see it all on tomorrows blog. Yesterday was a great day.. after about 72 hours on this thing THE FINAL SHOW is up and running with a few visitors….this kind woman came in to see Irini and Maria’s work.. I was still solving some issues with Marias … so she didnt get to see it.. problem is solved now.. COME BACK!

Then Pelli showed up to meet with Jennifer..

she didnt want coffee at first but with the time change.. Jennifer was tardy.. so.. she broke down and had an amazing cup of FREE Greek Coffee..

we had a great time waiting around for Jennifer.. and when she FINALLY showed up.. she begged me for a….

…THATS RIGHT! an amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee..

I decided to join in the fun with my own..

Pelli and Jennifer left and i decided to read my coffee cup… I see a performance on the horizon what do you see?

This guy Stelios came by to see the show and what kafeneon is all about.. i have him the down low..thanks for coming by!

LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! hanging around in kafeneon getting some work done!

Tasos came back by to finally see everything working… and have an amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee….here his is enjoying a video by Karla Milosevich

Tasos brought friends too…

and once again ladies and gentlemen.. Mary Zygouri who came by for a last look at the space before the her performance tomorrow.

thats right! THE FINAL SHOW… CLOSING March 31st 8:30… PERFORMANCE…VIDEO… BIG JUGS OF WINE… AND… WELL… FUN!

see you there..

Kafeneon Day 23

WOW.. well.. a few hours of sleep and up early to go buy what i needed to install THE FINAL SHOW (CLOSING MARCH 31 8:30 -but its open for viewing from 12) and back to kafeneon to do the impossible… it was… A little after i returned to kafeneon with dvd players, fabric, chords and such Dionysis, Dafni and Niko showed up to help.. at this point sleep deprived from capturing video i needed it..here is Niko

And always fun to have visits from the Lord of Death Dionysis…

Im tired of taking pictures of Dafnis hands.. but LOUIE showed up from Kalamata to have an amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee…

LOUUUUUUUUUUUUU seems a little shocked by his coffee ground future..

Maria Theodorakis mom came buy and brought some amazing food from Alatsi.. She was soo cool and just dropped by to say hello.. unfortunately Marias video wasnt ready yet.. But man.. the food was GREATT!!!

And Dionysis brought some great strawberrys..

shooting the shit..

This guy Tasos came in to see the show, which i said before.. the impossible. not much ready yet.. but he’s in a video show at Booze Cooperative april 3-7.. I told him to return tomorrow to see it all going. Thanks for coming by..

And then shit started getting weird.. Dionysis got a great amount of pleasure (it was a little scary) from fingering these pillows..

And Tereza was curious so she tried it.. and judging by the look on her face … Dionysis was right..

the fun continued as guest kept showing up to watch me struggle away on my computer.. WHAT UP STELIOS AND SIFIS

AND TULA CAME TOO

every one was chatting.. drinking wine.. getting comfy.. like Stelios here..

and Nikos (O Philosophos) here.. like i said.. shit started getting wierd.. i think Dionysis said something about his pointy head?

Ohhh Pauul. his head wasnt THAT pointy proclaims Nikos

Ahhhh i need a cigarrete

This is pretty much what ive been doing for the last 72 hours

and occasionally this..

Tereza got a picture of me doing my best impression of my photo in the Athens Voice.. I think i look less mean in this one.

And finally.. most the videos going.. 12 hours after the show “opened” I discovered that if you throw a 2 euro coin enough times at the ground the middle pops out. Pretty cool actually good party trick.. seems to be entertaining the guys..

Well thats it for now..back to the computer.. wait.. im on the computer now.. WEEEEIIIIRRDDDD!! ..

Kafeneon Day 22

a gray rainy day in Athens.. trying to organize a few tv’s for THE FINAL SHOW (Monday March 31st 8:30)… figured some people might want to take shelter and enjoy a FREE cup of Greek Coffee… and i was right.. Inge and Nikitas showed up to deliver a TV but they werent in the mood for coffee…

Mary showed up while i was busy capturing video for the show to keep me company and to take some measurements of her own for THE FINAL SHOW here she is enjoying an amazing FREE cup of Greek Coffee…weather doesnt look so bad in this picture.. though.. but take my word for it.. it was raining…really.. nice picture though.. i think

Mary went on her way.. and my wonderful cousin Myrto came by with her old tv… you know those big clunk ones.. not the sexy new thin HD flatscreen type.. but what she brought me.. was perfect! Thanks Myrto you deserve a FREE Cup of Coffee. and you know it was amazing!

and that was about it for the coffee.. a few visitors but they each stayed a good length and kept me company while working on the computator.. which ive been on way too much lately! Tonight is the ITYS screening of the Hito Steyerl documentary and Aristide Antonas’ talk about he Cyprus water system.. cant wait.. im sure you cant either….

Kafeneon Day 21

alll goood at kafeneon.. it started seeing this great article in the athens voice WORD UP!

somewhat slow today in kafeneon.. an architect came early to take measurements.. thats right.. the place is rented and will become………a cafe. She wasnt really into having her picture taken or drinking coffee.. so.. i let her be.. Yiorgos however came in to investigate whats up… he doesnt drink coffee but had a cup of water.. which is also FREE at kafeneon.. thanks for stopping by!

Then all the way from Amsterdam.. for a FREE cup of Greek coffee… Stefanos showed up to show his support…he has a great piece in the In Present Tense show at Megaro Musikis.. go see it soon.. it closes this weekend..

Stefano was excited to see the important detail of a cookie with his amazing cup of Free Greek Coffee.. cheers!

Well that was it for the day in kafeneon… i had to run some errands to prepare for the Screening tonight.. picture of this soon!

Kafeneon Day 20

Well.. it was the last day of Evas wonderful show.. and as well Greek Independence Day… a national holiday… and like the other Greeks.. I took the day off.. THAT DOESNT MEAN KAFENEON TOOK THE DAY OFF!… Eva was kind enough to sit and make amazing FREE Greek Coffee while i went and lunched (and did laundry) at my Aunts. No Independence day would be complete without some sort of military posturing.. which is where I start.. no blue angels here.. just a few jets and helicopters and in honor of the Greek flag the sky cooperated with a little blue and white of its own… Evas first visitor was her friend from Crete her name is Maria.. she looks happy to see the show.. and Eva.. i assume. I returned… to find Eva, Dimitri and their friend Vassilis Eva was more than happy to supply me with an amazing cup of FREE Greek Coffee. Eva seemed a little intimidated by this cup.. i think she was nervous she was making it for me… but it was great! this is Evas friend Goerge who showed up a bit later… i was taking a nap!I came down just in time to get a picture of Eva on her great bike!Well 8 oclock came and it was time to deinstall.. if you didnt see the show TOO BAD! .. but. not to worry.. this is the last week of kafeneon and there is TONS to do.. here is Eva admiring her letters as she deinstallsEva showing how easy deinstall is when you got a great art bikeShows broken down and Eva and friends are out the door.. thanks for participating in kafeneon EvaJust when Eva left, Jennifer and Toby came by with some friends to discuss and rehearse for their performance this Monday the 31st for the CLOSING of THE FINAL SHOW and of course kafeneonhere is Jennifer with Rosina and Elena..Rosina.. all smiles as she should be.. she is in kafeneon…Hope to see you later this week at one of the great events i have planned at kafeneon

Kafeneon Day 19

so here we are again.. another beautiful day in Athens at kafeneon.. slow in the afternoon.. as i just watched all that happens across the street at the court house.. the normal occurrences… some yelling.. some crying and of course scenes like this…now dont worry human rights watchdogs.. this is just family transport for some here! this nice lady came by to see what kafeneon is all about.. she couldnt stay for coffee cause she was off to work.. but hopefully she’ll come back by for a FREE cup of Greek Coffee! had some time today so i printed the signs for the final week and rearranged them on the window… WOW … A LOT GOING ON!This guy Antonakis came by to see what was up.. he heard about kafeneon through some friends and had even seen the blog…seems to be enjoying himself eh? Els cruised by to see the show and drop off some announcements for the show she curated called Selective Knowledge.. april 2- july 20.. GO SEE IT! here she is enjoying a conversation and an amazing cup of FREE Greek Coffee with Antonakis Olga came by to catch up and see the show… and of course some Greek Coffee youve maybe heard of the Minoan Snake Goddess from Crete.. now i present to you the Cretan Coffee Goddess! and finally Yiannis and Alexandros, two guys from around the way who have seen crowds and such in kafeneon decided to finally stop on by…they are musicians and after a great conversation and FREE Greek Coffee.. Alexandros mentioned he was inspired and will write a song about the place! I hope so! well thats it.. another great day at kafeneon.. Evas show is up only till 8pm today so if you havent had a chance.. COME ON BY..now off to do the dishes…

Kafeneon Day 18

An early morning at kafeneon with Jennifer and Toby who came by around 9am to look at the space and discuss their performance/involvement on THE FINAL SHOW closing night on MARCH 31st 8:30pm… they also got the opportunity to see Eva’s show which is up today and tomorrow hours 12-8pm.. and of course.. they had to partake in the amazing FREE Greek Coffee… I had some great visitors today.. including this little fella.. who i named NEON… here he is asking “what is this place” “where are you from” Dafni also stopped by to collect documentation from the Beautiful Like an American show … Neon seems interested…didnt think it wise to give Neon coffee.. but he did enjoy an amazing FREE cookie This woman came in today to see the show… her name is Myrto she too is an artists…Dafni enjoying her FREE Greek coffee… and some conversation about art with Myrto…Then is so happened my wonderful cousin also named Myrto came in to see me and the show and for some amazing Greek Coffee with her man Tolga I learned through the two that even in Greece Greek Coffee was referred to as Turkish Coffee until they started calling it Greek Coffee due to the political situation in the region in 1974… interesting eh?? eh… whatever… lemme just drink my Greek Coffee…. This lovely woman with a lovely name Evalina came in today as well.. I had met her the first week of kafeneon.. almost crushing her hand with my firm MidWest American handshake.. she doesnt drink coffee.. She also came to the space the day before again mentioning she didnt drink coffee.. so I told her if she returned I would make her a cup of Greek Mountain Tea.. she mentioned she was from Volos.. interestingly enough.. the mountain tea i made her was also from Volos… The cake on the table was kindly provided by Dafni.. dellllicious… here we are discussing reading the future in the grounds of the Greek Coffee… Evalina was nice enough to let me take our picture together… she is a very kind lady… and she kindly donated some money towards the kafeneon “Month Book” …. and you should too!!!! (see the button on the right!) thanks for coming by everyone.. we are officially in the final week of kafeneon…

Kafeneon Day 17

A slow day here in kafeneon, but of course… its not how many people take advantage of the Free Greek Coffee but the type of interactions that take place.. Panathinaikos had a game so there were a ton of people peeking through the window… a few “whats this place” and “Where are you from” interactions but finally Petros came in. Petros lives bellow kafeneon. I have met him twice before by waking him up (and probably his whole family), once when installing the Beautiful Like an American show at 4:30 in the morning… and again.. deinstalling the show at 1:30 in the morning… lets just say we didnt quite meet on great terms. Well Petros decided to stop by and see Eva’s show. Letting bygone be bygones.. he took advantage of the Greek Coffee (although do to having only one tooth.. he passed on the cookie) and some conversation. I took a great picture of him.. but unfortunately deleted the pictures by accident when documenting Eva’s show.. So.. to keep true to my desire to chronical everyone who passes by.. I made a memory drawing of Petros this morning (pretty darn good likeness). Here it is…enjoy..  and as promised here is the little mention  in Athinorama about kafeneon…stay tuned for documentation of Evas show which I took last night.. coming soon! 

Kafeneon Day 16

Eva showed up on a rainy friday morning today to finish install.. a couple minor touches, a couple blow fuses and the show looks great.. here is Eva taking a couple shots of her work… i told her the rain would stop just before the opening.. and guess what.. it did!oh come on Eva.. dont be shy.. your about to open your show!!!Iris stopped by to take some photos of the wonderful textures and patterns that exist in the space.. she didnt drink coffee but i got her some juice…she informed me of a small little blurb about kafeneon in athinorama...they misspelled the web address but got my name right… ill post images of blurb when i scan it. this girl Eva popped in to see what the hubbub was all about.. we schooled her about the kafeneon.. she said she would come by sometime. and finally Yota from the Athens Voice showed up to enjoy a free cup of Greek Coffee and interview me about the space.. which is nice of her… dontcha think? Yota doing her journalistic thang… and id be silly not to get a group shot wouldnt i.. so here it is.. so thats the day… a little rain.. a minor electrical shock… and a bit of juice and coffee… almost time for Eva Michalaki’s opening.. IM SO EXCITED… Stay tuned… and if you would be so kind.. throw some cash my way for the kafeneon “Month Book” im going to publish chronicling the month at kafeneon (donation button to the right.)