In 1993 Martin Kippenberger claimed the cement skeleton of an abandoned building complex located in Syros, Greece. For three years the unfinished abattoir was used as a site for numerous contemporary art projects, under the label MOMAS(Museum of Modern Art Syros), a name chosen as a pretty obvious, ironic statement towards art institutions and museums. An anti-museum, with no walls and in a remote location, became an ideal setting for all sorts of independent site-specific projects by Cosima von Bonin, Hubert Kiecol, Stephen Prina, Christopher Wool, Lukas Baumewerd, Michel Majerus, and other artists, all invited by Kippenberger. In 1996, the events stopped due to the deterioration of Kippenberger's health, and MOMAS project was abandoned, even though there were several ideas and plans for future works, events, and further development. It is important to note, that Kippenberger proposed MOMAS that year, for his upcoming participation in Documenta X, and the project was rejected, in a way confirming its anti-institutional entity.
In the following years, many artists (re)visited the site, in order to revive its spirit or to make an autopsy of its current condition, or even pay tribute to its utopian aura. Mario Garcia Torres, invited by Locus Athens in the context of the group exhibition "Disco Coppertone", made a slideshow documentary about the project and re-established the concept for a while, Maria Papadimitriou visited Syros and made a performative act of engagement with the site, holding a MOMAS sign at Syros ferry station to attract tourists arriving at the island, and the 3 137 artistic group "celebrated" an anniversary 21 years after its declaration as a "museum" by Kippenberger.
In the present, the original MOMAS is transformed into a municipal government wastewater treatment plant, and the only traces of the site is hidden inside a few of the plant's buildings.
Sources & more info:
southasastateofmind.com/article/momas-unlikely-museum/www.lespressesdureel.com/EN/ouvrage.php?id=8274&menu=2www.artforum.com/print/reviews/201106/mario-garcia-torres-39197locusathens.com/lcu/disco-coppertone/centrefortheaestheticrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/08/maria-papadimitriou-and-pablo-leon-de.htmlwww.3137.gr/an-anniversary-siff
Location on Google maps and current condition on Street View:
The project
MOMAS Appendix is a web project/archive which began as a 3d reconstruction of the original site, in order to be uploaded to 3d Warehouse and be available for download both as a plain 3d model and also as a geo-located KMZ file, which allows users to place it in the exact position through the Google Earth platform. The initial model was created as a very simple 3d reconstruction, relatively accurate, based on the few photographs and footage from the site, at the time it was used by Kippenberger. Along with the reconstructed model, the MOMAS sign that was created by Christopher Wool is included in the file(in the context of the project he placed several signs showing the way to the site).
The file uploaded on the 3d Warehouse can be found here.
This is the first model, downloaded as a KMZ file and placed in its original position on Google Earth, on top of the water treatment facilities:
The initial model was developed further into a series of variations, more realistic, along with the gradual addition of its surroundings. Either low-poly or heavily edited, either with simple textures or complex materials and shaders, several 3d reconstructions were made, in a Baudrillardian production of virtual copies. This process is purely a symbolic act, that functions not only as a tribute or memorabilia, but rather as a commentary to the MOMAS non(anti)-museum outline by Kippenberger, its non-existence in the present, and of course the ironic fact that currently in its place there is a sewage water treatment unit.
Below there is another variation, interactive and more realistic than the first ones, so the user can take a virtual tour of the site and its surroundings. The features of the library used to create the scene, and also the fact that an online 3d viewer has several limitations, led to a rather vintage representation, resembling a videogame or 3d graphics from the 90s, which is an interesting conceptual connection with the time that MOMAS was active. A time close to the sunset was chosen for the rendered scene, addressing the stereotypical touristic imagery of the Cyclades and the notion of the greek summer.
Another variation, nearly photorealistic, was made to reconstruct the site with all of its characteristics, including a more accurate and detailed landscape. The geometry is based again on the first simple 3d model, just like the previous ones, enriched by high resolution textures, displacement maps and shaders. The below images are a few of the rendered views created with the specific file:
Appendix
After the development of all the above 3d variations, a model including only the buildings was extracted from one of the files, in order to be placed as a test, in several open spaces all over Athens, by "hijacking" augmented reality technology. Using a simple Google Play app for previewing 3d models in augmented reality through a smartphone, it was possible to view the model of MOMAS in real space, and virtually position the whole site in 1:1 scale in a place with enough open space. With augmented reality, you can walk along or even inside the model, while you can also take photographs and video from that virtual tour.
Again, the placement of the model in several places is another futile and symbolic act of unfolding virtual and non-existent memorabilia of MOMAS, commenting on its history, its legacy as a postmodern utopianism, and its current status. Through the basis of its virtual multiplication, an idle reinstatement is attempted, signifying as an analog, the same features that Kippenberg attributed to the site.
Among several suitable/signified open spaces in Athens, Filopappou hill was selected for the final re-installment of the virtual reconstruction, a selection based on its significance as a landmark, its elevated open spaces, and of course its proximity to the Acropolis.
The photos from the AR placement(artist Panos Sklavenitis performing as a scale reference):
And the video documentation:
A project by Michalis Zacharias
Presented in the context of the online exhibition Schrödinger's Revolution, hosted by Atopos and curated by Alexis Fidetzis, on the occasion of the International Museum Day.
All the 3d models were created in Blender and edited in SketchUp, Windows 3d Builder/Viewer, Model-viewer's Editor by Google, among others. Model-viewer component and Three.js library are used in this site for 3d viewing. The augmented reality app used for the placement is i4 Augmented Review.
The initial model was developed further into a series of variations, more realistic, along with the gradual addition of its surroundings. Either low-poly or heavily edited, either with simple textures or complex materials and shaders, several 3d reconstructions were made, in a Baudrillardian production of virtual copies. This process is purely a symbolic act, that functions not only as a tribute or memorabilia, but rather as a commentary to the MOMAS non(anti)-museum outline by Kippenberger, its non-existence in the present, and of course the ironic fact that currently in its place there is a sewage water treatment unit.
Below there is another variation, interactive and more realistic than the first ones, so the user can take a virtual tour of the site and its surroundings. The features of the library used to create the scene, and also the fact that an online 3d viewer has several limitations, led to a rather vintage representation, resembling a videogame or 3d graphics from the 90s, which is an interesting conceptual connection with the time that MOMAS was active. A time close to the sunset was chosen for the rendered scene, addressing the stereotypical touristic imagery of the Cyclades and the notion of the greek summer.
