Posts

Palimpests Folds

Image
“Palimpsest”: A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing. (Oxford dictionaries) This definition constitutes the framework of M. Pantelias’ experimentations. He studies and is inspired by the mechanisms of memory, the past, its recall and transformation into something new, in a new time. ‘The palimpsests refer to old manuscripts which have been erased in order to write new writings on them, this double-written reading defines a new place and becomes the carrier of new interpretation. I collect elements that attract my attention through notes then I reconstruct them in the studio producing a new image, which has become autonomous in a new reality’ (Miltos Pantelias) Pantelias refers to images, processes them and then the procedure of palimpsests is concluded with the rewriting of the new image and sensation. From the woman’s form in the sea and back concepts participate in each other’s experience.
Image
Palimpsests: The Art of  Medieval Recycling The art of recycling — re-using waste materials to reduce consumption of fresh raw materials — may seem alien in a medieval context. Yet when it comes to writing, past peoples were often much more sparing than many of us today. Miniature of the Evangelist Luke writing, in a 12th-century Gospel-book, Add MS 5112, f. 3r Producing papyrus sheets or parchment volumes was not an easy or cheap endeavour. In order to produce a complete Bible on parchment, the skins of approximately 200 sheep may have been needed. One way to save parchment was to write the words and sentences continuously with no punctuation at all. This might have made reading more difficult and open to misunderstanding, but it definitely saved space. Detail of continuous script in the columns of the Codex Sinaiticus, Eastern Mediterranean (Palestine?), 4th century, Add MS 43725, f. 252r Another way to save parchment and papyrus was to reuse it. Papyrus scrolls were usually wri