The work “Sleeper soldier” is trying to sketch out a character whose presence persists, unlike the many passing residents of room 505. A chainmail armor on a ceremonial stand awaits its owner; or is recently taken off during an intimate moment of rest within the privacy of the room. Sleeper agents are intelligence operatives sent to locations with their sole objective to assimilate with the local community over a very long period.
Once their objective is given after many years, they will use their local networks to achieve it. The artist uses this character -of the lurking sleeper soldier- to highlight the dormant ideologies in the gaze of the visitor, the now omnipresent figure of the city. By challenging its motives the work is questioning the effects of their agency, seeking this way to unravel our own views on hospitality, service and identity. By entering then the
staged intimacy of their hotel room we encounter a hidden, maybe more honest nature of its occupant that may not fully fit in with that of a seemingly benevolent character. One that, just like the Datura flower depicted in their armour’s insignia, blooms / acts only at night or only in secret.

Installation views from “Lore” group show at Room505 of Perianth Hotel, Athens

︎ 1,2,3,5,6: Stathis Mamalakis

stainless steel chainmail shirt, aluminium base
108 x 77 x 36cm