Tom o'Bedlam

Sunshine

The asphodel meadow, for others the meadow covered with ashes, is according to Homer the part of the Underworld where the souls of those who lived neutral lives go- those who were neither heroes nor evil- after they drink from the water of Lethe. Here it reveals itself to us in the interior of the shops out of business in Athens in the crisis. In the night time we are lingering, its appearance is only possible through the lens of the camera as darkness obstructs visibility with the naked eye. The resulting images are portraits without subjects: what is left is only the stage of the drama, a shell, and this is what is recorded. Empty walls, garbage, abandoned furniture compose a former, dead activity as the merchantman or the merchandise are absent. The intention of this recording could be to acquire Lethe herself: to travel through this asphodel meadow and, by the repetition of its stimulus, to experience this reality and then to deconstruct it, casting away the fear that we may also get to live into this frame.

The party’s over

“By morning, our voices will sink with their shells”