Ρίζωμα/Rhizome
'Η ζωή ανέκαθεν μου έμοιαζε με ένα φυτό που ζει πάνω στο ρίζωμα του. Η πραγματική του ζωή είναι αόρατη, κρυμμένη στο ρίζωμα του. Το μέρος που εμφανίζεται πάνω από το έδαφος διαρκεί μονάχα ένα καλοκαίρι. Μετά εξαφανίζεται-μία εφήμερη παρουσία. Όταν αναλογιζόμαστε την ατέρμονη ανάπτυξη και παρακμή της ζωής και των πολιτισμών, δεν μπορούμε να ξεφύγουμε από την εντύπωση της απόλυτης μηδενικότητας. Παρολαυτά, εγώ δεν έχασα ποτέ την αίσθηση αυτού του 'κάτι' που ζει και διατηρείται κάτω από την αιώνια ροή. Αυτό που βλέπει είναι ένα άνθος που παρέρχεται. Το ρίζωμα παραμένει...'
'Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above the ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away--an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of something that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains...'
Carl G. Jung (1965) Memoirs, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Vintage Books. Kyriaki Costa December 2011
Kyriaki Costa’s Rhizome (2011), in fabric, thread and marker, has an outsiderish, folk-art quality that is tempered by its monochrome palette. Several animals hover on the horizon line, while the roots of trees penetrate the soil where human forms congregate underground, including a sickly-looking baby breastfeeding. Although not working from actual legends, Costa manages to allude to her country’s rich heritage without succumbing to trite sentimentality. Dimitris Neocleous’s long vertical ink on paper Palimpolis – Gazing at the City II (2011) is an agreeable mix of fantasy drawing and gra ti mural. Owing a bit to the Arts and Crafts movement, it leaves one unclear as to whether Neocleous is representing flora and fauna overtaking a claustrophobic view of a compact city, or perhaps something more alien: cybernetic conduits, say, supplying the hamlet with essential nutrients. It’s beautifully laid out, with a somewhat ornamental pipeline form becoming larger and dominating the bottom of the composition until it engulfs the inhabited parts of the city. While it might be a stretch to forge a connection to Cyprus’s newfound reserve of fossil fuel, the stylish drawing nevertheless points to a future state where an interconnected landscape is the key to survival, and provides both aesthetic and intellectual nourishment.
CHRIS BORS / ArtReview 2011
