Herculaneum

2023

This project deals the aspects of the dissolution of a location evolved as an existential and memorial myth, even reaching a catastrophic myth. It is about the famous baths in the spa resort, Herculaneum, famous and frequented by the royal house and the Viennese aristocracy in the 19th century, then by the working class of Socialist Romania and after the fall of communism in 1989, reached total degradation, a result of the new realities Romanian capitalists. In the landscape with neglected and degraded big hotels, many to the point of ruins, people and tourists still come here because of the springs with renowned therapeutic qualities. Thus, the resort of Herculane still exists as a reminiscence of the noble historical past in which the present is actually the memory of those times. The artistic approach of this project was achieved by applying the old photographic technique of cyanotype on glass, as well as assisting with photography and digital editing techniques, thus the works being consistent with the degraded and catastrophic space, resulting in a visual collage that suggests a surrogate space, an apocalyptic space assimilable, perhaps, with the transit space between heaven and hell.