Excavating History Projects 2008 and 2009
Palimpsest
beeswax, parafin, antique silver tray
2008
Originally a palimpsest was a parchment that was scraped down and re-used, leaving remnants of the earlier text visible.
But it has a wider meaning - an object or place that reflects its own history...a parchment, an object, a house, that is continually written over, and inscribed with new meaning, yet retains visible and meaningful traces of the past.
Historic sites are Palimpsests, which we continually rewrite.