Omphalos: Untied but strongly tied (2019). Stones collected from the wider (residential) Delphi area, thread, black & white photograph. Dimensions variable.

The work Omphalos: Untied but strongly tied is a comment on history and how we relate to the past. Here, I attempted to reproduce the carved net covering the sculpture of Omphalos, as depicted in the Roman reproduction of the sculpture exhibited at the Delphi museum.

Historical sources describe the net as a construction made of wool thread, holding together precious stones depicting mermaids. According to Herodotus, in 480 ΒC a divine intervention in the form of a rockfall intercepted the robbing of the Oracle by the Persians. Ιn our times, the reason for such a rockfall would be the area’s flimsy limestone ground.

In my work, I reproduced the pattern of the net by replacing the valuable stones of antiquity with today’s rockfall remnants. These were collected from the wider (residential) Delphi area. In this way I intent to comment the glorious Greek antiquity in comparison to today’s collapsing condition. Yet still, the net remains intact. Sustaining what?

Related works: Hunting net (2020)