The island that is folded like a dry bread

The Island which is folded like dry bread

The story and drawings are written by Vasiliki Sifostratoudaki Edited and translated by Petra van der Kooij

Through the repetitive sound of the leaves rustled by the wind, a layer below the sky is made.

Door het herhalende ritselen van de bladeren in de wind, ontvouwt zich een laag onder de hemel.

One is invited to hear it, see it, move and play with the island.

Je wordt uitgenodigd om het te horen, te zien, het eiland te verplaatsen en er mee te spelen

Het eiland, gevouwen als droog brood is een onderzoeksproject van Vasiliki Sifostratoudaki en zal plaatsvinden gedurende drie afzonderlijke lezingen op verschillende locaties in Rotterdam: een galerie en het aangrenzende trottoir, in een botanische tuin en op het plein voor een leeszaal.

The Island which is folded like dry bread is a research based work by Vasiliki Sifostratoudaki that takes place throughout three separate readings, each being hosted in a different space in Rotterdam: a gallery and its pavement, inside a botanical garden, and on the square in front of a communal reading room.

During the events the different groups are invited to listen to the story and after this we construct a temporal and transportable island. Throughout the interplay of the group a new reading is possible for ourselves and for the viewer passing by.

The language of the readings is either Dutch or English.

Materials: flexible light tubes and cable ties.

Dimension: viriable Duration: 90 min

Tijdens de lezing wordt men uitgenodigd te luisteren naar het verhaal, waarna er met elkaar een tijdelijk en verplaatsbaar eiland wordt gecreëerd. Door de interactie van de groep komt er een nieuwe betekenis vrij voor de deelnemers en voor de toevallige voorbijganger.

De lezing zal plaatsvinden in het Nederlands of in het Engels.

Materialen: flexibele lichte buizen en kabelbinders.

Dimensie: variabele Duur: 90 min

Rotterdam, Netherlands Spring 2015

The Island which is folded like dry bread How else could you write a story about an island, if not in the horizon’s format?

- Enough is more and more is much. Much is more than enough.

I can’t remember if I read the measurement somewhere or if I thought of it my self, but it seems to set the limit for the island.

An island which is there.

It is between the east end of Europa and the beginning of the sea of Africa.

The island is actually two islands, IT is there since the time of dragons and myths.

-I actually believe it is one island folded into two.

The island is always there, the only thing which changes is the position from where I see it.

IT could have been a c a r v e d s t o n e from a mine.

- The reason I am telling you all this, is because of the F O L D which is almost in the middle of the island.

Literally like if someone extracted a piece, maybe by hand or even a tool. The fold is actually that deep that it makes you think that there are two mountains and not one.

At this moment I am outside the island. Describing IT. Talking about IT. Providing information about the island.

It seems of crucial importance to talk about my position/θέση.

I can move around IT but the island IT self has a stable position, even though ITs viewpoint is synchronised with the movement of the viewer, which in this case is me.

NO humans have lived on the island so far, but it belonged to them since the past. Once the island was part of the kingdom which was opposite to it. Nowadays is a part of a complex construction of villages which are in the same area as the kingdom once was.

IT has been given a name.

Being a living organism the island IT- self keeps changing.

The G R O U N D from a certain distance seems to be gold-ish, but when the light drops everything starts to turn into a silver-pink.

When the sun is out the ridge/ κορυφογραμμή of the mountains turns light green and warm yellow. The parts of the deep valley often are black, either because the sun is not high enough to light it up or because of the clouds.

The C L O U D S (1) when crossing over the island cover parts of it with their shadow. The shape of their shadow, can be seen from a distance, since there is nothing on the island.

It is an empty island.

IT is so DRY that no plants can grow, other than small bushes.

The Daylight starts again.

ITs icon could be composed by two or more cut outs of different pictures of rocky mountains. It looks like a panoramic picture however, instead of depicting one mountain through distortion, it shows more than one. Is like a fold in an Origami before it becomes something.

- It is there

IT is mainly dry but once you move to the side, which overlooks the sea, occasionally some trees appear on its surface.

Due to the intensity of the WIND, they can’t grow in height, the trees crawl on the ground. Growing in length, staying attached to the rocky earth.

- I assume there are some small plants, perhaps thyme/ θυμάρι or even some insects, maybe lizards?

The island is like a rock dropped into the water. (2)

IT’s EDGES would be the ones of a stone cut out of a mine or like a pebble.

In the night IT doesn’t exist. IT’s presence is obvious by the way IT effects the wind and from the sound the sea makes when it touches the shore near the villages.

There is no LIGHT HOUSE on the island. But there are small lights around IT, that inform you about IT’s position.

The island is sooo! dry! dry as a paximadi.

The paximadi is translated as dry bread but it is not. It is made of flour. It is so dry that for one to eat it, one has to soften it with water. The flavour of the paximadi varies from region to region. It was invented as food for travellers or people living in isolated areas. Like islands, where access to fresh supplies is difficult. The paximadi is doubled baked dough.

- Now, If you ask me what is the flavour of the island? … -pause-… I will come back to it later…

Because IT has been there for a long time, the sea made some hollow parts which after being filled with sand, resemble beaches.

The feeling of the GROUND, under my feet, of the island which is folded like dry bread, is rough, because of the thousands and thousands of little fragments of the rocks which have fallen on the beach.

NO birds inhabit the island, but sometimes they rest on it.

The HEAT is equally strong around and on it.

In the winter the sea becomes grey, like iron, protecting the island and her self. The wind lifts the sand at the shore and the island is not there.

The SEA around the island is a mixture of colours. Generally it is described as a green - blue, the locals say it is a lake.

The blue green is composed of a part of Cadmium red, Cadmium yellow almost more than red, a hint of Citron yellow and many blues from the Prussian blue, all the way to the Cobalt blue and back.

Because of the reflections of the light, the first purple closer to the light and vivid vermillion red are added like reflections. As well as clear light blue. The kind of blue that you see in the edge of the glass.

The COLOURS (3) are not in stripes but in a body, a solid transparent body that when one dives into the sea the water remains blue.

You can see the sky through the water and some long meters of the bottom of the sea/ βυθό.

Sometimes the water transforms to glass by taking its colour and the waves are so high that not even the calmer sailor would dare to come near them.

I am.

Constantly moving with the island. IT IS a moving image of uncountable horses. Like the horses in motion by Eadweard Muybridge.

I lose ITs picture as I move. At the same moment the island makes by it self and offers me a whole picture anew.

It is not the name or the latitude that is important but the fact we can see it.

IT is a dry island, with the TASTE of thyme and salt on a watered dry bread.

IT could have been a STONE.

(1) the clouds

(2) the island

(3) the diagram of colours of the sea

The pebbles used for the illustration of the story The Island which is folded like dry bread were found in the botanical Garden in Kralingen in Rotterdam, Netherlands

The pebbles used for the illustration of the story The Island which is folded like dry bread were found in the botanical Garden in Kralingen in Rotterdam, Netherlands