Stories Told Now, 2011
Ink on Paper
Working with words and language and seeing how these fit into a discourse particular to Cyprus set off this piece of work. In a kind of web language, not activated between communities - like the regional language of Cyprus - Maria Petrides explores how, if initiated, this language could spark new stories and/or revisit a past when language was set in motion. This piece looks at what new ‘function’ or impact a text, developing from oral stories, can have when moved into a gallery space where stories ‘speak’ to others. They are temporarily residing in a space, meters away from an erasing line, which keeps these stories apart. Unfettered and unfiltered, she forms free-for-all questions, which bring these stories together, and also join with many collected from viewers wishing to scrawl their own, short or long, on the paper sliding along the wall. Additionally, a pile of Post-its and a box are set aside for viewers to drop in their contact details, intended for a meeting with the artist.
