Chiara

In the middle of a Greek field, the artist, dressed in fake traditional clothes, lip-synchs a performance by stealing the words of 1930s singer Roza Eskenazi. The angelic song is “Eimai Prezakias” (I’m a Junkie) and is about the beauty and happiness of a drug-addicted life.In 1936, the Greek government banned this audio track but now it is now considered part of the National Artistic Patrimony.

From evening until morning

I live my life by Heroin

And I possess the whole world 

When I snort the white powder

The whole world is my possession 

When I have Heroin and snort 

And when the police comes around 

I squirt out ink like an octopus

When you get high

You become bold

A king, a dictator

A god and ruler of the world 

When you take Heroin

You become happy

And you see everything

In the world through pink glasses

Ah Heroin, my brother until resurrection!

Greece is all mine

And her pitiful state is laughable

She is missing a foot

that she gambled at dice

I will be a dictator

And the world will become ashes

Someone would light the shisha for me 

And someone else would put it out

When you get high

You become bold

A king, a dictator

A god and ruler of the world 

When you take Heroin

You become happy

And you see everything

In the world through pink glasses” *

“Eimai Prezakias” (I'm a Junkie) by Eskenazi-Semsis-Tomboulis, 1934 * English translation of the lyrics

web version: 3':07", dOCUMENTA(13) research website