Mauvaises Herbes

Archaeological excavations per se are
destructive processes that obey hierarchical
judgments and methodological guidelines
relating to concrete ideological frameworks.
This natural stone mosaic is the outcome
of the artist’s long engagement, study, and
observation of the mosaics found at the
archaeological site of Kourion in Cyprus,
where the ruins of an ancient city-kingdom
can be seen. In many cases, archaeological
findings that are excavated, documented,
and restored are buried anew. In this way,
they return to the best possible conditions
for their preservation and are further
promised an undefined, projected future.
Panayiotou has closely followed the new
surface that emerged with the deliberate
burial of mosaics and documented the weeds
that appeared on it. These parasitic
plants—common to the Cypriot landscape—
have been rendered in a 1:1 scale, using the
same technique that was used to create the
ancient mosaics that lie beneath the weeds.
Mauvaises Herbes covers the terrazzo floor
at the intersection between two rooms. This
specific installation follows the topography
of the excavation sites in which they are
located and the vertical layering of time that
an archaeologist always faces in the process
of an excavation. Destroying the walls
or the floor of one building to study a layer
lying beneath is a decision often made
by archaeologists that extends beyond the
scientific realm into a political and
ideological one.