2016 / 2026
Hungary: Pécs / Szentbékkálla
Photography, site-specific action
THE STORY
In December 2016, as I was leaving Cella Septichora in Pécs, Hungary, I noticed sunlight passing through the stone of the entrance door. The light revealed translucent and opaque areas of the rock that resembled musical notation, a cardiogram, or an ancient script. I photographed them in colour, without any processing.
When I returned in May 2024, the conditions had changed. In winter the door is kept closed against the cold, even when the museum is open; in the warm months it is kept open. We arrived before the museum opened to photograph the door from outside, closed. Later, from inside, I looked at it as I had in 2016: leaves on the trees obscured the sunlight, and the door stood open. It seemed to be fixed in that position, so we did not close it ourselves. Recreating the original image would have required a clear day, the right position of the sun, bare trees, and a closed door. In December 2016, all these conditions had come together by chance.
In March 2026, I brought printed copies of these photographs to the Stone Sea near Szentbékkálla, Hungary.
I temporarily attached the prints to the rocks of a narrow, unusually straight stone corridor. The wind tore the sheets loose and displaced them, repeatedly rearranging their positions.
After the action was documented, all the prints were collected and removed from the site. No trace was left behind.
Photographs of light recorded in one stone were read by another. The work emerges in the moment of encounter.
The installation was carried out with the assistance of Dmitry Razhev, who also witnessed the action.
DOCUMENTATION
Stone Sea, Szentbékkálla, Hungary, 28 March 2026
Photographic and video documentation of the action.
SOURCE IMAGES
Cella Septichora, Pécs, Hungary, December 2016
Colour photographs of light and shadow on the stone entrance door, made without processing.
