Archive: 1998
Re-birth Dubrovnik. Sadastra: an installation of 8 cruciforms in the ruined Cistercian abbey in Dubrovnik, Croatia 1998. An installation of 8 copper crosses with hand-applied verdigris and luminous paint.
“Sadastra”, was the name given to a stone which, during the Greco-Roman era, was considered to possess magical properties. It was said to carry the light of the stars and to affect birth and re-birth. It was certainly a mineral which had phosphorescent or photo-retentive properties and was present in the mines on the Croatian coast. The installation brings this pre-Christian belief together with the image of the Christian crucifix and its promise of resurrection and re-birth. The various cruciforms used are drawn from both eastern and western Christian iconography, reflecting the geographical position of the modern Croatia as a bridge between the eastern and the western Church. Each letter of the word S-A-D-A-S-T-R-A was written on each of the cruciforms in a phosphorescent paint and could still be read 2 hours into darkness.
Sponsored by Art Radionica Lazareti and the Demarco European Art Foundation; Art Radionica Lazareti sponsored by the SOROS Foundation.
IAN HOWARD 