In conversation with: Ektor Ntourakos

Ektor Ntourakos, (born 1991) is a transdisciplinary visual artist. His practice includes interventions in the urban public space, installations, and the creation of situations. His main focus is on the urban public space and the practices, actions, and chains of actions that occur in it. He approaches public space as a social phenomenon that is an emergent property of practices. Social practice theories, assemblage theories and agonistic politics are important elements in his work.

What is your art practice about?

"In my art practice I investigate urban public space, as a concept, but also as a sphere where different actions occur in it. I use the medium of painting, installations, and sound to touch upon different aspects of public space; either its sociopolitical context, or its cultural aspect. I’m interested in the ontology of public space, how it is formed, its timeframe, structures, etc., but also the cultural groups, and the subcultures who perform in it, either as someones who are part of the public space or as initiators of public spaces. In my latest works, I focus on how urban lifestyle and subcultures contribute to the formation and ambience of an urban public space. I specifically research urban clothing as a powerful agent that shapes the atmosphere and character of a public space, considering it an emergent property of that environment. My research draws upon personal observations, magazines, and advertising materials that have historically defined and popularized the common perception of urban lifestyle through subcultures and sports.I use the medium of painting to explore this subject, creating blurry atmospheres of zoomed-in, cut-out representations of clothing items and everyday urban situations. The images highlight the ambiguity and ‘blurriness’ of public space, where diverse lifestyles intersect, and the boundaries between subcultures dissolve. My practice is a studio based one, but it entails research approaches similar to urban and social studies, and therefore it requires fieldwork and time outside of the studio, most commonly in the public spaces of the urban terrain."

How can painting contribute to the discourse about the formation of public space? 

"I focus on how urban lifestyle, clothing and subcultures contribute to the ambience and the formation of urban public space. I explore how painting can obtain three dimensional values similar to an installation work, by combining it with different elements and mediums, such as field recordings, screen printing, woodwork, textiles and readymade objects.The experimentation with the different mediums is not only to go beyond the traditional wall-based presentation of paintings, but to implement elements which are related to the urban clothing and lifestyle, from screen printing to ready made objects. Based on that I am raising the following questions on the medium of painting: how can painting contribute to the discourse about the formation of public space? Given the three-dimensional and spatial nature of public space, can a medium like painting offer a critical standpoint and stimulate a productive discussion about that constitution of public space, and in what ways?"