Foreword : Re-imagining Ogygia [Exposure – fragmented sculptures on an island coast]

Abstract

Natural rock formations elicit feelings of persistence, strength, and permanence due to their harsh and enduring nature. To the naked eye, they deceptively define an unshakable resistance to the natural elements, as they progressively distort over time beneath the harsh battering of the persistent wind and water. To the casual observer, these rock formations represent nature's timelessness, as Susan Sontag's perspective on our relationship to change of place over time reinforces: "Time exists so that everything doesn't happen all at once...". Visiting a rocky coastline on a number of occasions over the course of a lifetime does not normally result in much of a change in our perception of it, confirming that observation of a place over time appears to remain the same; however, Sontag's second part of the sentence, which reflects on the place where change occurs "...and space exists so that it doesn't all happen to you," alters the dynamic interplay between place and memory; from a personal relation based on emotional connection, to a commonly shared narrative of place based on cultural ideals, cumulative recollections, and collective meaning.