CLAUDIA COMTE.THE ORIGIN OF THE SHOCKWAVE RIPPLE EFFECT (YELLOW AND TURQUOISE)

ΕΜΣΤ New Commission

Foyer

08.03.2024-12.01.2025

Claudia Comte’s new commission for EMΣΤ, The Origin of the Shockwave Ripple Effect (yellow and turquoise) (2024), is a captivating wall painting that extends across a 30-metre corridor, seamlessly connecting the Museum’s main area to its entrance foyer. The work exemplifies Comte’s unique blend of traditional hand processes and modern technology, showcasing her affinity for organic patterns and morphology. Comte is renowned for her site-specific installations, paintings, and sculptures that often draw from nature’s intricate designs, like waves, sonar patterns, cacti, and rock strata. Her works are not just visual feasts but immersive environments that invite viewers to engage and interpret. Comte’s works make reference to popular culture, nature, cultural symbols and art movements like Op art, Concrete art and Pop art. Her wall paintings are computer-generated images inspired by natural forms. The patterns she chooses are developed digitally as the artist always starts by producing a rendering. Following this, she uses vinyl like a stencil and then she paints directly onto the wall.

The Origin of the Shockwave Ripple Effect (yellow and turquoise) is a vivid representation of Comte’s artistic practice. The wall painting features an arresting ripple effect, pinched in the middle, creating a dynamic visual movement. This ripple wraps around a hollow body, producing contrasting perceptions on either side. Adding to its allure is a colour gradient flowing from turquoise to yellow, culminating in white, echoing the vibrancy and diversity of nature. It is an intricate dance of colours and forms that resonates with the Μuseum’s landmark modernist architecture. The turquoise horizontal lines mimic the waves’ movement, leading visitors through the space. These lines transform into a more linear form as they merge into the yellow zone, eventually culminating in a seed-like black and white motif. This artwork is not only a visual journey but also a metaphorical one. It symbolises the impact of today’s decisions on nature, illustrating how even the smallest actions can create ripples of change, much like a water droplet creates infinite waves, inviting viewers to think about the environmental issues of our time. The Origin of the Shockwave Ripple Effect (yellow and turquoise) stands as a testament to Claudia Comte’s persistence in creating art that is both visually stunning and thought provoking. Blurring the lines between art, nature, and architecture Comte’s work offers visitors a unique visual and sensory experience.

Curator: Daphne Vitali

CLAUDIA COMTE PERFORMANCE. HOW TO GROW AND STILL STAY THE SAME SHAPE

Foyer | Corridor

FRIDAY MARCH 8 at 19.30 & 20.30

The fourth in Comte’s series of performative activations, How to Grow and Still Stay the Same Shape is a highly playful and mimetic series of movements in dialogue with the artist’s monumental 31-metre-long geometric wall painting, The Origin of the Shockwave Ripple Effect (yellow and turquoise), currently installed at EMΣT. Choreographed by Comte and performed by Andrea Tortosa Vidal, the movements interpret the elemental forms of life expressed in the optical pattern of the wall painting.

Drawing from the ancient tradition of mimesis, Comte cultivates a space of alterity in this work, wherein the imaginative imitation of natural phenomena holds the potential for evoking empathy. Through her interpretation, she guides us through the rhythmic patterns of natural phenomena that constitute the universe of her work at EMΣT. In doing so, she situates us in dynamic relation to shockwaves, light, and the sensory experiences of flora and fauna embodied within the fluidity of human movement. Additionally, Comte’s performance will be activated by an original musical composition by longstanding collaborator, Egon Elliut.