Inflatable Greek columns teeter and sag inside Bally Foundation, a ghostly rendition of the ancient acropolis conjured in modern materials by artist Zuzanna Czebatul.

Czebatul’s installation, dubbed ‘T-Kollaps,’ is part of the group exhibition Arcadia, curated by Vittoria Matarrese. It is on show at the Swiss fashion house’s Villa Heleneum on the shores of Lake Lugano in Switzerland until 12 January 2025.

Arcadia references the idyllic historic Greek region Virgil described in his Bucolics in 40 BCE as a tranquil place ‘devoted to the pleasures of nature and song’. Czebatul is among 19 contemporary and historic artists in the show, delving into the relationship between nature and artifice to ‘create the utopia of a fictional and immemorial heritage.’

For ‘T-Kollaps’, the gallery space is doused in a deep shade of forest green and filled with inflatable polyethylene blow-up Doric, Corinthian and Ionic columns. Czebatul has made the structures transparent, so they also appear to be ‘painted’ with the colours of the walls and floor, reflecting light from their plastic skins and creating the illusion of a gentle sunset filtered through their forms.

Archaeologists have long known that Athen’s ancient temple was originally painted, but it was not until 2006 that Greek archaeologist and chemical engineer Evi Papakonstantinou-Zioti confirmed it featured a riot of colours, decorated in brilliant shades of red, blue, and green. These pigments faded over time and were, in some instances, forcibly removed from the stone.

Over the months, ‘T-Kollaps’ will also undergo a radical transformation as its columns gradually deflate and lose their shape, like an abandoned theme park or modern ruins.

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