DEER STONES

2018, 2020, 2021, 2024, R², Revealed Realism, Supplemented Realism, Страна оленья

Hungary

2018, 2020, 2021, 2024

The project, developed in collaboration with Dmitry Razev, is dedicated to exploring the phenomenon of deer stones — both ancient and contemporary, archaeological and symbolic, real and imagined. In our work, we combine artistic and scientific approaches: we research, document, interact with, and interpret these stones through the method of Revealed Realism.

What Are Deer Stones?

Deer Stones (Mongolian: Буган чулуун хөшөө) are stone stelae, often featuring anthropomorphic traits, with depictions of flying deer and other carvings. They range in height from 1 to 4.5 meters. These megaliths were created by ancient societies that existed between 1200 and 700 BCE in the territories of Mongolia and adjacent regions of Siberia.

Deer hold a prominent place on nearly all deer stones. The image is based on the Siberian subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus sibiricus). Early stones show very simple depictions of deer; over time, the drawings become more detailed. A gap of 500 years leads to the emergence of complex images of flying deer. The deer are depicted specifically as flying through the air, not merely running on the ground. Their antlers become elaborately decorated, featuring extensive spiral patterns that can cover the entire deer. Sometimes the antlers hold a solar disc or another sun-related symbol.

Deer stone, Khovsgol Province, Mongolia from

The tops of the stones are usually rounded or flat, often carved at an angle. Human faces appear much less frequently. When present, they are sometimes represented symbolically by a few neat diagonal strokes (//, ///).

Deer stones were part of the sacred rituals of ancient societies. Although the specific forms of megalith usage in rituals of these ancient cultures have not been fully established and may have varied across regions and throughout the 500-year period, there is no doubt that they played an important role in mediating the interaction between the human world and higher powers. The use of deer stones in religious ceremonies was known up until the early 20th century. [1 2]

Modern “Deer Stones” of Hungary

It is remarkable that Hungary is home to contemporary sculptures that closely resemble ancient deer stones in form, content, and symbolism. As part of our project, we explored several such monuments: photographing them, researching their creators, contacting local information services, documenting our findings, and engaging with the works on a creative level.

“Tree of Life” (Életfa)

Artist: Péterfy László, with the collaboration of Szerdahelyi Károly
Year of Installation: 1980
Location: Zalaegerszeg, Petőfi utca 39.

The sculpture was originally installed in 1980 in the square in front of the Zalaegerszeg Town Hall. In 1989, with the placement of the equestrian statue of Zrínyi in that same square, the Életfa was relocated to a small park at the corner of Ady Endre and Kisfaludy Sándor Streets. However, this would not be its final site. On May 5, 2022, the sculpture was moved once again—this time to its current location at Petőfi utca 39, in the courtyard of the Zala County Regional Organization of the National Hungarian Hunting Chamber and the Zala County Association of Hunters and Hunting Enterprises. After restoration, it is once again open to the public.

Description:
Carved from an 8-ton sandstone block that tapers toward the top, the sculpture is covered with animated scenes of life. Mythical and folkloric figures of humans and animals intertwine with gently swaying plants and trees. On the front side, a stag is depicted with a solar disk between its antlers. [1 2 ]

“The Conquest of the Homeland” (Honfoglalás)

(Also known as: “Deer Stone” (Szarvaskő))

Artist: Harmat Ferenc, with the participation of Piszter Péter
Year of Installation: 2003
Location: Balatongyörök, Kossuth Lajos u. 29

This sculptural group is situated in a small park within the courtyard of the municipal building complex.

Description:

The sculptural ensemble consists of three large engraved sandstone monoliths arranged in a semicircle. The eastern stele features a depiction of a warrior in the style of the steppe balbal stone statues. The central figure bears the image of the mythical Turul bird. The western stele is surrounded by small stone plaques inscribed with the names of legendary chieftains of the Hungarian tribes. One side of this stele displays the Orion–Nimrud constellation. On the other, rows of deer are engraved, ascending upward in a dynamic, ritual procession.

Frottage as a Form of Artistic Interaction

We conducted a series of frottages from these monuments in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Materials: paper and wax crayons.

In this context, frottage is not only a method of capturing texture — it becomes an independent artistic act. The original sculptural idea merges with the material and gesture of the artist. The relief, surface, and traces of time enter into dialogue with the drawn line and the hand of the one making the imprint. [Instagram 1 2] [youtube]

These works were exhibited as part of the international art and educational exhibition project “DeerLand“ [Instagram 1 2 3]

“Field of Deer Stones”

Location: Approximately 5 km south-southeast of Nyirád, in a forest-steppe landscape on the grounds of a long-abandoned military installation.

Author & Date: Created by time, people, and nature.

On a gentle hillside, we discovered rows of concrete posts embedded in the ground at an angle. While their original function is unclear, they are likely remnants of military engineering — possibly barriers or training obstacles from a former late-20th-century training ground.

The layout and shape of these structures may be accidental. Yet visually, they evoke strong associations with megalithic alignments — menhirs, deer stones, and ancient stelae. This resonance becomes even more pronounced through artistic processing.

We documented these forms as “found artifacts” and digitally enhanced the images to emphasize their resemblance to ancient monuments. Thus emerged the Field of Reindeer Stones — a visual reconstruction of a myth arising from the intersection of nature, forgetting, and incidental form.

The project draws on the traditions of Siberian and Ural-Altaic deer stones — ancient burial markers carved with weapons, antlers, and symbols connecting different realms. Here, in the Hungarian landscape, a modern echo appears — perhaps unconsciously, perhaps by chance. Yet in this field of frozen forms, the ancient motif of the mediator between worlds seems to reawaken.

This is a powerful example of the “archaeology of the present”: utilitarian structures with lost meaning come to be seen as new archetypes, generating myth.

The series reflects the aesthetic of Revealed Realism: the object is found, but the meaning is overlaid. This corner of the Hungarian cultural landscape became a naturally found site for reinterpreting history, memory, and form — perfectly aligned with our method.

Conclusion

By tracing the echoes of ancient deer stones across time and geography — from Bronze Age Mongolia to the Hungarian cultural landscape — our project reveals how symbols survive, resurface, and transform. Through the lens of Revealed Realism, we seek not only to document but to awaken dormant layers of meaning in the world around us. Whether carved in granite or cast in concrete, the image of the deer continues to mediate between the visible and the invisible, the historical and the mythic, the past and the present.

Old Gyenesdiás Quarry

2020, DearDeerLand, Quarry, R², Revealed Realism, Supplemented Realism

Series: The Quarry as Witness

Régi kőbánya, Gyenesdiás, Hungary

2020

On the northern edge of the Hungarian village of Gyenesdiás, nestled on the slope of Pipa-hegy hill, lies a forgotten landscape — an abandoned dolomite quarry. Its pale grey walls preserve the memory of the ancient Tethys Ocean: more than 200 million years ago, during the Upper Triassic period (237–205 million years ago), warm shallow seas accumulated lime-rich sediments composed of the shells of tiny marine organisms. Through the action of microorganisms, these deposits transformed into a dense, compacted mass of calcium and magnesium carbonates — dolomite.

Covering an area of approximately 400 × 400 meters, the quarry is now silent and overgrown. It is divided by a narrow ridge into a spacious eastern section and a smaller western one. The eastern basin is particularly striking: nature has sculpted ravines, terraces, and canyons whose almost fantastical forms resemble an ancient amphitheater. The slopes and ledges are largely covered with black pine and brushwood, and each groove or outcrop feels like a mark left by both geological time and human intervention.

Once, the quarry supplied valuable materials for construction and industry. Dolomite was used as aggregate in building, as flux in metallurgy, to neutralize acidic soils and enrich them with calcium and magnesium in agriculture, as well as in the production of glass and refractory materials. [ 1 2 3 ]

Today, with its industrial role long gone, the quarry returns to nature — and simultaneously opens itself to artistic contemplation and action. As part of the series “The Quarry as Witness,” we approach such places as living archives: not only of geological memory, but of the potential for interaction between human presence, form, and time.

As part of the Deerland art festival in September 2020, we conducted a series of artistic explorations in the old quarries around Gyenesdiás, Hungary. One of the key events was the creation of The Native Deer — an ephemeral geoglyph formed in an abandoned dolomite quarry on the hill of Pipa-hegy. The project became a spontaneous yet profound collaboration with the landscape itself, where natural forms revealed the image that was meant to appear.

Originally, we planned to work in another pristine white quarry, but upon arrival discovered it was again under excavation. We had to change location quickly and chose the old, forest-overgrown quarry. We descended to a light clearing that intuitively called for action.

The Szamorodni Deer, 2020 (process and details)

Our original sketch — a two-headed elk — didn’t match the terrain. But the natural streams and grooves already suggested another deer’s form. I merely “revealed” it with pigment splatter. Later, a heart appeared in the center, turning into a sun. (Instagram)

The Szamorodni Deer ephemeral geoglyph, ~ 3 × 5 meters. Materials: pigments (ochre, wine, chocolate), water. Technique: pigment splatter. Co-author and photographer: Dmitry Razhev

Meditation inside the deer and Performances around

A week after the geoglyph was completed, we conducted a performance inside its outline — a physical alignment with the symbolic shape. The body tuned into the place, activating its latent presence. (Instagram 1 2 3 4)

Spiral with a Deer Hoof Stamp

Using a sponge stamp in the shape of a deer hoof, we created a double spiral: coiling inward in ochre, then unwinding outward in red. From above, the form resembled spiraling time — folding and unfolding. (Instagram)

Cave Deer

Next to the site, we found a man-made cave — likely carved out during stone extraction. Inside it, we staged a photo performance titled Cave Deer: shadowy images on the walls like memory archetypes. This added a subterranean dimension to the project, deepening the connection between human, stone, and symbol (Instagram)

This work belongs to our practice of RR-method — an approach where the artist does not impose a new form, but listens attentively and reveals what is already present in the landscape. Here, the environment itself acted as both witness and co-author.

Although nothing went as planned — we changed location, abandoned the original idea, and adapted the technique — the result was unexpectedly precise. We simply uncovered what was already embedded in the place.

That’s how the Samorodny Deer appeared — an ephemeral trace shaped by streams, stones, and light. A month later, it vanished without a trace, as intended. What remains is memory, and the documentation.

But most importantly, what remains is the experience of co-creation with the land — where the quarry was not just a backdrop, but a protagonist.

Pusztamiské Gravel Quarry

2020, Quarry, R², Revealed Realism, Supplemented Realism, Страна оленья

Series: The Quarry as Witness

Pusztamiské Gravel Quarry, Hungary

2020

Pusztamiské Gravel Quarry is located 2 km south of the village of Pusztamiske, Hungary. The quarry, approximately 1300 × 1500 meters, is still in operation, though extraction has ceased in some areas. These former work zones are visually divided into two contrasting basins: the southern part is predominantly white, while the northern part displays ochre and orange tones.

The quarry’s sandy and gravelly layers frequently contain fossilized seashells, sea urchins, corals, and other marine organisms — remnants of the warm Pannonian Sea that covered the region during the Middle Miocene, 12–13 million years ago. These deposits, formed by rivers carrying quartz grains and larger rock fragments, became extensive beds of sand and gravel.

The extracted materials — gravel-sand mixtures, crushed stone, and sand — are processed using modern machinery and used in concrete production, paving bases, landscaping, and even as glass-grade sand. The quarry is developed by the Austrian company Lasselsberger Holding Internationale GmbH, with extraction beginning in the late 1990s. [1, 2]

Pusztamiské is not merely a source of raw material; it is a layered archive, a witness to ancient seas, vanished lives, and present gestures. It holds time not only geologically, but poetically — in deer tracks, in wind-carved sediment, in the color of its cliffs, in the movement of bodies and shadows.

Walls the Color of Time
“Walls the Color of Time” is a series of visual and textual observations of the exposed quarry walls, where color, structure, and texture become a chronicle of time. Each stratum carries traces of a sea, a glacier, a forest, or human intervention.

We see these quarry walls as living archives: their palette — ochre, limestone, pale sand, flecks of coal or clay — is not just aesthetic, but a material expression of deep time. The landscape speaks in minerals.

This project combines scientific description with a poetic gaze, recording the moment when the landscape stops being a background and becomes a voice.

Ritual with Shadows
Among the towering walls of orange sand, we staged a performance and photoshoot — figures in deer masks moving slowly across strata, like spectral mediators between epochs.

The quarry’s colors — bleached whites, rusts, ochres — hold the memory of the Pannonian Sea. Its currents, once fast and slow, have left layers like time pressed into pigment. To appear here in deer masks is not masquerade, but listening. The deer, in our practice, is a mediator — one who follows invisible paths, linking the visible with the invisible.

Shadows matter here: they fall across the sand like echoes of past presences. As we move through the light, our bodies become brief projections — alive within the sediment’s stillness.

This ritual is not a reconstruction of history, but an attempt to enter its rhythm, to step into the fluid memory of the landscape and briefly become part of its unfolding.

In the Footsteps of the Deer
In the inactive zone of the quarry, we found a surprising number of deer tracks. One trail followed a path up a slope, ending on a circular platform — likely used by quarry vehicles — where the tracks vanished.

This moment inspired a video. A masked figure follows the trail. At its end, he notices another pair of legs beside him. He slowly looks up — and sees himself. A silent encounter: a meeting of self with self.

Selected frames from the video “In the Footsteps of the Deer” Director & Camera: Marina Razheva · Actor: Dmitry Razhev Editing & Color: Sasha Snova · Music: Vlad Razhev

A Meeting Thread
In another part of the quarry, pale sand mounds formed a soft labyrinth. There, we filmed a second video: two masked figures walk toward each other, each winding thread onto a spool. When they meet, their threads are already tied in a bow — a symbolic guiding thread that led them to each other.

Stills from the video “A Meeting Thread” Directors & Camera: Marina & Dmitry Razhev Editing & Color: Sasha Snova · Music: Vlad Razhev

This work is part of our ongoing practice of Revealed Realism (RR) — a method that merges artistic intuition with research, myth with landscape, and presence with attention. In this approach, quarries are not neutral scenery, but collaborators. The terrain is active, speaking, remembering.

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