11/26/2025
Afterimages & Skialiths
Sharing some fragmentary mementos from the studio
Lulu:
These photos were taken several DAYS after wrapping up our Open Studio event, or (from a different perspective), several MONTHS after we initiated the persimmon-dyeing process post-fermentation:
Some things were left behind,
Some disappeared…
(down the drain, into the air, clung onto fibers)
Some actions left marks,
Some shifted things away from its original states.
Bit by bit, Time made changes to the world,
Bit by bit Time changes us…
Michael:
The beauty of the clothing, or of the world in general, lies, in my opinion, in the act of TRANSLATION, owing to its necessity for existence and its impossibility for perfection.
Skialith /sciˈaˌlɪθ/ is a term coined by American Geologist G.E. Goodspeed(1887-1974) in his 1948 paper; a combination two Greek words, σκιά/skíē (shadow) and λίθος/líthos (rock):
“A skialith is a remnant of a country rock in an igneous formation that has been partially assimilated. Used particularly in studies of granitization and metasomatic rocks. “
(By) Translating “Skialith” into Chinese you’ll get “殘影體”; (by) re-translating “殘影體” into English you’ll get “Entities/Forms(體) of Broken/Leftover(殘) Shadows(影).” Like what Lulu said, some meanings were left behind, some were broken or simply disappeared.
In Mr. Goodspeed’s words:
“…These dislodged, rafted or travelled type of fragments need to be distinguished from the static relics… They range from relics showing but little change to those that are mere shadows of the original rock in the granitized matrix. “
The formation of Skialith requires cementation, a process where dissolved minerals in groundwater crystallize and fill the spaces between sediment to form rock. This reminds me of wearing your clothes over time, as well as the experience of slowly realizing AoS II into reality.
Ending this train of thought with another translation:
吾人皆爱衣物之美，然所见即所爱乎？
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We admire clothing for its beauty, but what is it we‘re really seeing?
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Images: Archive of Shadows aftermaths & AoS Zine in collaboration with
Studio Wenjüe Lu / Wenjüe Lu © 2025
