Pompeii. 79 AD.
Places speak to us about what occurred. Ruins are erected like the traces of an expanding past, for we can witness the passing of time here more than anywhere else. Even so, the present struggles for its evidence; it uncovers the wound between two true presences. The past and present meld together. Time as we know it ceases to exist as both dimensions remain camouflaged.
Pompeii has turned into the staging of a scene, and man is its viewer, unknowing that it will become a spectacle. Before us we have the veil of ambiguity, one of confrontation between memory and experience. The folds of this memory play their part in diluting the tragedy of the event. We are witness to human fragility without forsaking ignorance.
Nostalgia remains blurry. The traces here already belong to the present.
Joana E. Sendra Alemany