Rosetta

Background to the Project

Undertook and expedition to the British Museum, London, to revisit the stone in July 2003 after 20 years.

Statement

This project explores the communication of abstract meaning through symbols. With influences as diverse as Gainsborough and Beuys, deeper understanding can be revealed using both universal and local points of reference. I have been fascinated by the layered meanings hidden in abstract symbols for many years. What starts out as visual imagery that is symbolically relevant and accessible to a specific community is distorted into conceptualised generalisations, distortions and miscommunication. As recognisable forms become distorted through disconnected points of view, the viewer is left with a glimpse of the boundaries within society.

why the interest

The decree is written three forms of communication. The first speaks to the high priests enshrining their rights and privileges. The second addresses the general public and their common concerns for security in a time of change. The third voice is that of the state - dictating law and affirming the boundaries of its control.

A single statement repeated with subtle shades of meaning that shift depending on which sector of the community is being addressed. Layered meaning dividing society - very much a part of early civilisation

Art Work to date :

Performance / Installation

Jigsaw Puzzle, started November 2003, outside completed January 2004

Top section started december 2004, completed February 2005
Lower section - started December 2005, completed February 2006
April 2006 - three sections linked together
Centre section started December 2006

painting

Rose dawn: started 20/02/07, acrylic on canvas
Three voices: started 20/02/07, acrylic on board

History - a la Wikipedia

The Rosetta Stone is a Ptolemaic era stele inscribed with the same passage of writing in two Egyptian language scripts (hieroglyphic and demotic) and in classical Greek. It was created in 196 BC, discovered by the French in 1799 at Rosetta, a harbor on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, and translated in 1822 by Frenchman Jean-François Champollion. Comparative translation of the stone assisted in understanding many previously undecipherable examples of hieroglyphic writing. The text of the Rosetta Stone is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing the repealing of various taxes and instructions to erect statues in temples.

114.4 cm high, 72.3 cm wide, 27.9 cm thick (45.04 in. high, 28.5 in. wide, 10.9 in. thick). Weighing 760 kg (1,676 pounds), it is made of dark grey-pinkish granodiorite and has been kept at the British Museum in London since 1802.

More info about the Rosetta Stone

at the British Museum | on Wikipedia | royal decree | synopsys

related topic : graphology | megaliths