Time Link 2001

Editor: So, this is "Time Link," a mixed-media installation by Douglas Abdell, created in 2001. It strikes me as a rather unconventional sculpture – rough stone fragments, seemingly carved with doorways, arranged on a set of wooden steps, with one sitting atop a book titled "i Fenici," I think, referencing the Phoenicians. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, immediately I see a dialogue with history. Abdell, known for exploring themes of cultural memory, sets up a symbolic stairway, doesn't he? Each step, each stone, could represent a different layer of civilization, with the doorway motif acting as portals or gateways between these layers. Editor: So the "Time Link" isn't just a title, it's really about linking historical periods? The Phoenicians perhaps represent one specific civilization? Curator: Precisely. The Phoenicians, master navigators and traders, become symbolic. And that rough-hewn quality of the stones isn't accidental; it underscores the idea that our connection to the past is often fragmented, incomplete, like archaeological digs unearthing bits of information. The steps imply progress, or perhaps even decline, as time marches forward. Where does the doorway lead? To the future, the past, or simply to another state of being? Editor: It's interesting how you see the rough texture as deliberate, I saw it just as...rough. Do you think the book on the Phoenicians is key to understanding this as a statement on Mediterranean culture? Curator: Indeed! This single volume serves as a foundation, implying all subsequent rises are anchored on its knowledge. It gives depth to what initially reads as 'just rocks'. These aren't merely stacked stones, are they? It invites us to contemplate the echoes of the Phoenicians within our contemporary lives. What have *we* retained? What has crumbled away? Editor: This has changed my perspective completely! I now perceive "Time Link" not just as an assembly of found objects but as an invitation to reflect on the weight of history, literally and figuratively. Curator: Exactly. It's a poetic monument to cultural endurance, wouldn’t you say? The artist creates layers of symbolic possibilities with time as the ultimate link.