A giant ‘footprint’ on this Greek island becomes a talking point at the Paxos Biennale

A 1,000 m² land art has become a subject of fascination and discussion in Greece. The large-scale installation is the work of Greek visual artist The Krank. The art installation is The Krank’s official submission to the Paxos Biennale, a free, public contemporary art festival on the island of Paxos in Greece. The 2022 edition of the festival kicked off on June 7.
The land art – titled “Footprint” – is essentially a giant shoe print created near Mongonissi Bay in Greece. The Footprint has been described as a poignant metaphor for humanity’s “continuing and devastating impact” on ecological systems around the world. The work is a commentary on human activities harming the ecological balance.
Through his art, The Krank wants to highlight the urgent need to restore the balance between economic growth, social well-being and environmental preservation while “keeping in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow over global discussions on sustainable development”.
Le Krank only took 15 days to create this impressive modern art. A statement released by The Krank regarding his work reads: “Conceptually, ‘Footprint’ deals with the meaning of the loss of. Nature, ecosystems and biodiversity are all in a variable state with a negative sign. Parallelism that emerges through the impermanence of my work and our presence as a species reinforces the message I wanted to communicate. Everything is fluid and nothing should be taken for granted.
In addition to The Krank, the Paxos Biennale art festival also presented the works of Clemens Behr, Studio Talmon Biron, Julia Krahn, Thiago Mazzo, Torsten Mühlbach, Nuria Mora. This year, the artists were commissioned to “intervene on the existing structures” of the natural and architectural sites of the island of Paxos, resulting in “sculptures, installations and murals”.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First post: STI