On "anonymity", or, more specifically: "on identity"

by Mélinna Kaminari

The creative work of artists or writers, who draw on personal experience, so as to redefine with every opportunity an identity in constant change, is not, after all, a personal matter: we are all concerned, to the extent that art itself is a function of very specific variables. Everything personal, remains political and therefore, is of collective interest. So, once more, creative work that draws on personal experience, engages us in a process that pertains to others.

In the postmodern, digital era, identity is complex, disturbed, in constant change, often fabricated, but also, unlimited. A question such as "who are you?" expresses the anxiety of the very same person who asks the question. It is about a need to delimit or elucidate a person's own identity in comparison to the identity of others. However, as the ethnographer Trinh T. Minh-ha¹ has accurately pointed out, if we are to examine the hybrid state of contemporary identity, the crucial question to ask would not be "who am I?", but, "when –where –how am I?"

Consequently, it makes no sense to engage in self-determination by means of identity declarations in terms of who we are, but rather, we should focus on our evolving "when –where –how" state.

A way to examine identity can be through participation in an "anonymous" group, using ourselves or sides of ourself as points of departure for the investigation of larger issues. What could be then the purpose of a collective venture for the "reconstruction" of Athens, what else but to offer new knowledge: a small contribution in making our life more bearable and humane.

Who am I?: Mélinna Kaminari or rather

When am I?: 12 Nov. 06,
Where am I?: reconstruction.gr, Athens, Greece,
How am I?: So 'n' so…

How about you?

(1) Trinh T. Minh-ha: "Framer Framed", Routledge, New York,1992

translated from greek by M. Kornelakis