''Pergamon 2nd Life'' is a joint art project created by the author,

mime artist A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium ...

, and photographer Andrey Alexander from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, together with the author, circumnavigator, and producer Angelika Gebhard from

Bad Wiessee Bad Wiessee (Central Bavarian: ''Bad Wiessä'') is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Upper Bavaria in Germany. Since 1922, it has been a spa town and located on the western shore of the Tegernsee Lake. It had a population of around ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. In a photographic installation extending over 30 m (98 feet) in length and up to 4 m (13 feet) high they recreated the missing parts of the Gigantomachy frieze of the

Pergamon Altar The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greek King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of Pergamon in Asia Minor. The structure was 35.64 ...

Artistically inspired reconstruction

The fragments of the Great Altar, which were excavated by archeologists under the direction of

Carl Humann Carl Humann (first name also ''Karl''; 4 January 1839 – 12 April 1896) was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist. He discovered the Pergamon Altar. Biography Early Years Humann was born in Steele, part of today's Essen - Germany ...

in the area of ancient

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

in 1878, have numerous empty surfaces. The missing parts and figures of the gods and giants depicted in the original 113 m (370 feet) Gigantomachy frieze were added by Andrey Alexander in the form of photos and drawings he had made of present-day

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

s, and of fragments of ancient sculptures. In a five-year process, these photographs were then edited with respect to color, surface structure, and elaboration of the details and inserted into the gaps of the remaining

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

fragments. The result is a fictional, artistically inspired reconstruction of the original. Leading European

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

s and scientists were consulted for advice on the project.

Exhibitions

QUADRIGA, Ostfries, Pergamonaltar, 3-D Rekonstruktion

The photographic installation celebrated its public world premiere in the

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

in Moscow from April 22, 2013, through July 21, 2013. Video and audio installations complemented the exhibition which attracted around 300,000 visitors. From June 30 through August 2, 2015, the photographic installation was exhibited in the

Shchusev Museum of Architecture The ShchusevThe official site of the museum prefers the spelling ''Schusev''. Museum of Architecture is a national museum of Russian Architecture located in Moscow the capital of Russia and also a research centre to study and promote the architec ...

in Moscow. For the first time, the exhibition also included a 3-D reconstruction of the quadriga of the gigantomachy.

Prizes

In 2010, the German publisher Edition Panorama released the perpetual wall calendar "Pergamon 2nd Life", which was the silver winner of the 60th Gregor International Calendar Award held in the German city of Stuttgart.{{cite web , url=http://www.freelens.com/node/50499 , title=Pergamon Fantasy , website=Freelens , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222174342/http://www.freelens.com/node/50499 , archive-date=2015-02-22

References

External links

The second life of the Pergamon Altar. German Broadcaster ARD, “ARD-Mittagsmagazin”, April 22, 2013, on YouTube

Opening of the exhibition “Giants against Gods”, on YouTube

Website of the ''Pergamon 2nd Life'' project
2013 works 2013 in art Pergamene sculpture 2010s photographs