George Drivas

George Drivas, Empirical Data, 2009, digital video, Collection National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST), installation view, ANTIDORONThe EMST Collection, Fridericianum, Kassel, photo: Nils Klinger

Empirical Data by George Drivas is a fictional story, but, as suggested by the title, it is based on empirical knowledge. In this work, Drivas re-interprets a biographical article by the author and journalist Gazmend Kapllani titled “A Story from Georgia” (Ta Nea, February 9, 2008) about the Georgian actor David Malteze and his life experiences, from arriving in Greece as a young immigrant to the moment he reached professional recognition as a successful theater actor. Drivas’s new narrative focuses on the relation of the individual to society and the stages of social integration on pragmatic sociological terms. Nevertheless, the fact that the leading role is performed by Malteze himself acts as a reminder of the reality underlying this fictional story.

Posted in Public Exhibition