The view of a dark sky, covered with rain and storm clouds, evokes dark and dangerous things, such as in Greek mythology: Skylla, the sixheaded sea monster that Ulysses had to pass on his way home after the end of the Trojan War. Scylla, shifted from the sea to the sky due to the initial syllable, is represented by the image on an ancient Greek vase. The original vase can be viewed in the Louvre, Paris. Skylla in the European spelling begins with the English “sky” and can therefore be easily mistaken for heaven.
The photograph is of the sky over Callantsoog, North Holland, and the work is therefore part of the ‘Playing around with Callantsoog skies’ series. The SKY series explores the theme of “SKY” on three levels: visual, written, and sound.
[A] The combination of the background of the picture (the sky) and another visual object may evoke an (English) term that is ambiguous in German and thus “calls up a second theme”.
[B] In addition, this combination may result in a new subject or an invented word through an equally pronounced but differently spelled word combination, as well as through a differently pronounced but equally spelled word.
[C] Additionally it is the title of the work that reveals a background and thematic association of the image.
[D] And in the one or other case it is just a modified photograph.