On the many journeys the artist made between Athens and Macedonia, she discovered early on, in an otherwise deserted and strikingly flat landscape, a Small Roman Bridge over the Loudias River. This small historical site, forgotten by many locals and taken for granted by many others, inspired Papadimitriou to bring it back to life.

Resuscitating the dry riverbed of the Loudias with a blue trapezoid carpet, Papadimitriou directs the viewer’s gaze straight to the bridge, transforming this roadside site into an actual destination. Working from an original standard-sized print sepia photograph, Papadimitriou blew up the image to real-size dimensions as seen from the roadside. On this positive print she opened a small negative window into its semi-circular structural framework, bringing to light the otherwise unobserved rigid stonework that blurs and merges against the speeding passerby.

Today, archeological services have altogether erased the Small Roman Bridge from the view of the chance traveler through the introduction of a protective tree-line that fenced it off from trespassers.

Maria Halkias