The sky has always unified the world – every person has experienced gazing up at that untouchable part of our environment. Why is this notion of connectivity that can be found in the night sky – which is uniquely codified and spans over the course of eternity – always used with the same semiotics? A need for communication, both emotionally and through trade, was found through astrology. Valinia Svoronou began to see that today these needs are met through the smartphone. This object filled with minerals and light has an uncanny way of tending to both these needs that were fulfilled in the past by the night sky.

Svoronou began to unpick this device by hiding an augmented world within it – her own world – using a specifically designed app which launched during the first eclipse of 2020. Exploring the history of navigation and myth, the third chapter of the app will be released on 1 October for the duration of the blood full moon cycle, telling the revised tale of the Greek myth of Endymion. An enchanting shepherd-prince loved deeply by the moon goddess Selene, Endymion was forced to choose his destiny after a raucous event with Zeus. He chose a life of immortality and youth, albeit in an eternal intoxicated slumber, during which his lunar lover would come every night and watch over his peaceful, never-awaking face. Endymion’s slumberous face doubles for the tranced users of the contemporary digital device it is laid out upon.

Endymion (a Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever), 2020
Mobile application
Technical Support: Aias Kokkalis
Courtesy of the artist

Outdoor Landscape/Salvage Plan III, 2021
Framed digital print, 84 x 119 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Outdoor Landscape/Salvage Plan IV, 2021
Framed digital print, 84 x 119 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Outdoor Bench III, 2021
Sculpture corrugated cardboard, 190 x 150 x 98 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Outdoor Bench IV, 2021
Sculpture corrugated cardboard, 190 x 150 x 98 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale