The poster series Athens 7000 cm² is an experimental approach on the different ways we understand our surroundings, designed by Markos Zouridakis and George Strouzas. Mapping always combines symbolism with realism, abstraction with dimensionality. Mapping a city is always about simulating a space, an environment, on the paper’s flat surface. A map may reproduce many areas in the same way, or one area in different ways. It is an assemblage of information; depending on the kind of data that must be provided, specific rules of illustration and registration of information must be followed. But how can someone map the “areas” of knowledge, fear, friendship, desire and loss? How can our memories fit on a flat surface? Established cartographical conventions aside, it will always be practically impossible to map out all the different lives and stories of a city.
A list of 700 memories was created, based on personal experiences and quotes from different kinds of written language (lyrics, poems, literature, words scattered around on the walls of Athens). 700 surrealistic entries, which reflect the scattered pieces of an blurry image we have for the city we were born and raised in. The entries are divided in 4 categories, which you find more often inside of city guides: 1) Places To Go 2) Things To Do 3) Places to Eat & Drink 4) People To See. Instead of actual places, the viewer “visits” -basements flooded with dreams- or -tunnels with neon lights-. Words and phrases that imply places – imaginary or not – that you visit more often than a museum or a landmark. The main poster is purely typographical. Comprised of all 700 entries/memories, it creates the sense of a “dense” list, where the numbering of memories itself brings to mind typical cartographic and urban planning practices. Individual accompanying photo posters operate as separate presentations of each section. By using blurred images we seek to reflect the uncertainty of memories and to create an emotional atmosphere.
