Artist RegionOntario
DescriptionRosetta is a rendering of the Rosetta Stone, an artifact discovered in Egypt in 1799 that enabled the language of ancient Egypt to be deciphered for the first time (due to its inclusion of the same royal proclamation translated into ancient Egyptian, Demotic, and ancient Greek). This historically and archaeologically significant object is rendered in salt on a blackboard, and visibly degrades over time as the adhesion of the salt breaks down, symbolizing how every language represented on the Rosetta Stone is considered to be a “dead language”. The power of the Rosetta Stone, as the key to the modern understanding of ancient Egyptian history and culture, is represented in an impermanent material to illustrate the disappearance of language and the rise and fall of human civilizations.
Materials Chalkboard and chalk
ClassificationMixed Media
Dimensions
182.9 × 111.8 cm (72 × 44 in.)
Object number HUM-2014-00005
In Collection(s):
Location
Lakeshore Campus, Storage
Credit Line Courtesy Humber Galleries