Spliff in hand, the Greek artist and architect explains how his Venice pavilion was inspired by Picasso\u2019s Guernica, Charlie Kirk\u2019s widow \u2026 and a hatred of pavilions<\/p>\n
\u2018Do you mind if I\u2019m smoking while we\u2019re talking?\u201d enquires Andreas Angelidakis as we both recline on a bean bag in the form of a fallen classical column. \u201cDo you mind if it\u2019s narcotics? If it\u2019s cannabis?\u201d He extracts an elegantly constructed spliff wrapped in pink cigarette paper from his black Nike windcheater and lights it up. \u201cIt\u2019s my medicine for anxiety,\u201d he says, before reconsidering. \u201cNo, I\u2019m just addicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The artist likes to see the world in a slightly altered state \u2013 which you can tell as soon as you set foot in the Escape Room, the name of his installation in the Greek pavilion at this year\u2019s Venice Biennale<\/a>. The pavilion, which was designed by M Papandreou and inaugurated in 1934, the year that Hitler met Mussolini here, has been furnished with a light-up dancefloor, Frankie Goes to Hollywood\u2019s Relax is pumping from the sound system and wilted classical columns hang from the ceiling or are arranged as seating on the floor.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/fd823a37a01f0b08721c9300f58b111ee1f75c07\/578_0_4947_3959\/master\/4947.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6c8d02501bbfe36b89bf682c21255751\" "\\"\u2018I")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"