Volax: A poetic documentation of landscape

Greek landscape provides an abundance of differentiated landscapes from mountainous areas to rocky islands. The village of Volax lies on a small plateau in the middle of Tinos island. It was named after the huge spherical granite rocks that characterize the area. It feels like a lunar landscape, scattered with rocks that give the impression of having fallen from the sky. These granites are volcanic magma that gradually emerged to the surface of the earth. Time and erosion have given these rocks their characteristic round shape.

This is the scientific explanation for the creation of the granite formations. But such a phenomenon could not fail to excite human imagination and by extension a myriad of myths surround the Volax rocks, contributing to the knitting of the mythology of this landscape. The four Chapters relating to these myths are: I Eternity, II Process, III Spirit and IV Humility. Those characteristics are identified in the Volax landscape after in situ field investigation and research. The outcome is the mapping and documentation of this unique geological formation.

Eternity is read through the monumental scale of the Volax rocks. Process is understood by studying the cavities and textures created by time and the natural elements. Spirit expresses the lifelike presence of these rocks. Finally, Humility is found in the human traces of the people, who built their homes in harmony with the natural world, creating a meaningful union.

Volax = volia of the earth. The word βώλος [volos] in greek is the homogeneous mass of a spherical shape, a spherical volume of any material. The village of Volax in Tinos owes its name to the large round granite rocks that surround it ("Volakes").

I Eternity

II Process

III Spirit

IV Humility