Tharrsos
(Greek): Θάρρσος
‘’Θάρρσος’’ (tharrsos) is a Greek portmanteau word, created by combining the two nouns ‘’θάρρος’’ (tharros, courage) and ‘’θράσος’’ (thrasos, audacity). These are the behavioral features of Musca Domestica, commonly known as housefly. These pests enjoy eating and drinking, as if belonging to the bourgeoisie of each season .This has as a result, the creation of faecal matter almost continuously, which reflects the natural absorption of the modern, sleepless, endless world of production and consumption.
Houseflies might be the most commonly met insect in our world, and is largely associated with humans, as it accompanies them around the globe, being the cause of numerous deaths (they have been used as a component in Yagi bombs during the WWII, being great carriers of harmful pathogenic micro-organisms etc). I took over the space in the kitchen of School of Fine and Applied Arts in Aristotle University, in order to place these cohabitants in their place of action. I used the remains of a daily routine, in my attempt to render them unapproachable and suffocating for the human being, while also using them as a reminder of the fluidity concerning the vicious cycle we call hunter and prey. Houseflies repulsiveness and passion for the human waste is a reflection of those unconsciously rejected by the memorandum. We are what we shit.
Installation: Marios Leandros Basteas
Sound Design: Reaktiv
© 2021 Marios Leandros Basteas