“We come here to be nobody. We might know each other but we deliberately and temporarily forget it when we come to the seaside ” –
Mr. Dimitris, local, swimmer
July 2015, a few days after the country’s referendum
Votsalakia, a pebble beach situated in Piraeus, considered as one of the most polluted beaches along the seashore of Attica, appears like an open breach within the Athenian urbanity. A place where from 6am to 9am stray dogs, passengers and locals temporarily cohabit. A place that those early swimmers appropriate through a series of ritualistic behaviors. A place that in its spatiality and temporality allows those individuals to gain strength to “deal with the coming day”.