Can you be just another can | OpenArtLink 2025 Piraeus
On a moving construction in the form of a railway, the artists created works inspired by the can. As a mass-produced object, it carries the symbolism of uniformity, consumption, and disposability: we use it, we empty it, we throw it away.
The can and its symbolism have preoccupied many artists in the past. From Duchamp’s ready-mades that opened the way for the transformation of the everyday into art, to Piero Manzoni’s daring gesture in Merda d’artista, Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s, Claes Oldenburg’s object-sculptures, and the lithographs of Gaitis, the humble container emerges as a mirror of society: a symbol of commodification, overconsumption, and standardization.
The artists of the exhibition “Can you be just another can” re-define its symbolism, shedding light on the issues of their own contemporary reality. Can you be just another can?
In English, the phrase becomes a wordplay that lends a tragicomic undertone. Do we wish to be just another can on the production line of a system that leaves no room for personal expression or individuality? The very notion of self is crushed, as uniformity is demanded in every aspect of life. The path is predetermined, the boundaries fixed, the norms strictly imposed.
The can-works, placed on miniature railway tracks, allude both to the Tempi tragedy and to the assembly line, exposing the treatment of human beings as mere numbers—whether as victims of war, of natural disasters, or as casualties of systemic errors and malfunctions. Yet the system continues its unceasing course, carrying us all along its rails; and if something goes wrong, if it derails, others will take our place in the endless procession of the “human can.” These works comment on our era, at times caustically, at times poetically, with complete freedom in the choice of form, concept, and material. Imaginative and inventive, they answer: No, I cannot be just another can.
Curators: Ismini Bonatsou / Lambrini Boviatsou
Artists: Ismini Bonatsou, Lamprini Boviatsou, Stella Drygiannaki, Elli Griva, Sophia Kyriakou, Evdokia Kyrkou, Kosmas Lilikakis, Yiorgos Lintzeris, Alexandros Nikolaou, Pantelis Pantelopoulos, Elena Papadimitriou, Apostolis Philippou, Vivi Perysinaki, Chrysa Skordaki, Angelos Skourtis, Nikos Stathopoulos, Aris Stoidis, Martha Tsiara, Margarita Vasilakou, Sofia Vlazaki, Nikos Vozaitis.
The exhibition is presented at OpenArtLink 2025, an initiative that brings together international artists from diverse disciplines to explore innovation and creative exchange.
OpenArtLink 2025
Piraeus-Project
Athinon 8-12, 185 40, Piraeus 185 40
22 - 26 October, 2025
Opening: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Organised by: CHEAPART, keramikos23
Georg Georgakopoulos, Paolo Incarnato, Fotini Kapiris, Thalia Kerouli
https://www.openartlink.com
