Absolute book bliss right here, a beautifully designed and presented project of visual poetry and portal opening ideas.
“All that is observable flows continuously." said Heraclitus. In the spirit of this reflection, Daan Paans (NL) sets out to provide insight into the constant becoming and transformation of things and phenomena, investigating how change is expressed in the visual culture of the past, present, and future.
Over the past ten years, Paans has analysed the genesis of a wide range of subjects including the extinct aurochs, pre-human paradise, the future life of an oak tree, meteorites from sci-fi films, variations of the lion man, and the Golden Idol of Indiana Jones.
These case studies show how primal archetypes continue to shape our contemporary (visual) culture, ever present yet evolving. With the ambiguous nature of his work, Paans aims to point to our deeply cherished bond with ‘ecology’, but also to offer the insight that this ecology is subject to an evolutionary process of transformation.
Paans’ research methodology relies heavily on the photographic medium, but he also uses video, 3D renderings, sculptures and documentary archive material – depending on the nature and meaning of his choice of subject.
Floating Signifiers is a rich, comprehensive book, in which Paans has translated his philosophical reflections on the imaginary nature of time and space into a meaningful form. In the complementary essay, Nicky Heijmen investigates how the original meanings of cultural objects can change and what the impact of this is on a broader social level.
Published by The Eriskay Connection, 2025.