Some things are inexplicable but true. The ‘Phaistos Disk’, an archaeological artefact of problematic and ambiguous identity, exemplifies the discordance between value and lack of comprehension. A fired clay disk probably of Minoan origin, is impressed on both sides with a spiral arrangement of unknown symbols hinting at a lost language. Standing as an undeciphered enigma, little is known for certain about its creator, content and purpose. Inevitably queries regarding narrative are raised. What is the story behind it? In the absence of knowledge around the intent, function, details and meaning, what makes it precious and worthy of attention? How can we evaluate something we don’t understand? What is the significance of an incomprehensible artefact? Engaged with the object’s physicality, I investigate the potential of changing its sensory characteristics, while referring to its doubtful authenticity in an effort to raise the issue of ‘fake art’. In an attempt to distil substance from the artefact, I experiment with different methods of distorting, hiding and revealing aspects of its identity through form, material, sound and temperature.
Plaster moulding has been long used as a technique of reproducing works of art, allowing to study their features. Only in this case, mould does the opposite: it veils the real piece. Pure geometric form operates as element describing the content in its absence or concealment. Executed from negative space, the absent artefact is recreated as a void in a cast. The more you hide the more you can imagine. A solenoid device knocks inside, implying of the unseen and claiming the viewer’s cooperation. Comparably to Mors code, binary language enables the solenoid to knock the plaster cast repeating the phrase “YOU ARE AN IDIOT”: A comment on the inability to interpret art through the impression that artwork is mocking the observer. Work becomes a journey of seeking out the object, experiencing the sculpture in person, while representing a crucial key in the decryption procedure of encoded information. The action of pushing from interior is captured on the external surfaces of the block – a hint of the concealed, trying to communicate or get out. As the actual creation transitions to another one through an advanced level of abstraction, the viewer’s perspective is set against the creator’s intention. Treating perception as a building experience, form expects our imaginative involvement. Manifesting the projection of the unseen while aspiring to extract comprehension from it, I examine the power of art to convey emotions of confusion.