julian rowe
julian rowe
visual artist
visual artist
… isles of the dead [2006]
Isles
of
the
Dead
began
with
a
journey
which
I
undertook
in
2005,
during
the
course
of
which
I
travelled
to
four
islands
dedicated
to
Saint
Michael:
San
Michele
in
Venice,
Mont
St
Michel
in
Brittany,
St
Michael’s
Mount
in
Cornwall
and
Skellig
Michael,
which
lies
off
the
coast
of
County Kerry.
I
made
the
trip
with
Böcklin’s
celebrated
image
The
Isle
of
the
Dead
in
mind.
It
too
depicts
a
journey.
Indeed
Böcklin’s
isle
shares
many
features
with
the
four
islands.
At
each
island
I
filmed
the
act
of
crossing
over
from
the
mainland.
These
journeys
were
very
different
from
one
another
-
a
short
walk
across
a
beach
to
St
Michael’s
Mount,
an
even
shorter
walk
over
a
causeway
to
Mont
St
Michel,
a
waterbus
to
San
Michele
and
a
rough
motor
launch
trip
out
into
the
Atlantic
to
Skellig
Michael.
Along
the
way
I
discovered
that
at
one
time
Mont
St
Michel had itself been known as the Isle of the Dead.
For
the
completed
piece
I
have
realised
Böcklin’s
image
in
3D
(or
one
version
of
it—he
produced
five
paintings
of
the
subject),
and
the
four
crossings
have
been
combined
into
a
video
which
is
projected
onto
it.
The
boat
in
Böcklin’s
painting
is
absent
from
my
piece
-
the
point
of
view
of
the
soul
crossing
over
to
the
island
is
contained
within
the
video.
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