palmyra (2018)

Ice made of cinnamon water, dry ice
700 x 390 cm

Palmyra investigates the destructive impact of war on the built environment, and the related destruction on culture and humanity. It uses the motif of a Greco-Roman capital, inherited by colonised countries in the Western world as a signifier of democracy. A mold was taken of a Greco-Oriental capital, very similar to those found at the UNESCO-listed archaeological site of Palmyra, which was bombed and largely destroyed by ISIS in 2015. Subsequently ice casts were made, coloured with cinnamon, a spice used for its scent in Athenian temples. These ice capitals were then installed to mark out a scaled-down floor plan of a classic Greek temple. The ice ‘ruin’ sat in a courtyard in the south-eastern corner of the National Art School, melting over the course of 24 hours. Though most ancient temples now exist in partial ruin, they were originally built to stand against the process of time, so the use of an ephemeral material, was a subversion of the idea of permanence and stability, instead suggesting the beauty and simultaneous vulnerability of democracy.

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