MANDERS, Mark
La Scomparsa Degli Sciapodi

La Scomparsa Degli Sciapodi (“The Dissapearance of the Skiapodes”) is a book that brings together several historical images of Skiapodes. The term Skiapode – also spelled Sciapode, Skiapod or Sciapod – derives from the Greek compound skia-podes, literally meaning “shadow-feet.” Throughout history Skiapodes have appeared and again disappeared in numerous cultures and folklore traditions. They are commonly described or depicted as figures with a single obnoxious large foot, who are in the habit of lying on their backs, during the time of extreme heat, and who protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet.

Over the last two decades, Mark Manders has been collecting, and secretly making, various images of Skiapodes as part of the work Room With All Existing Words (2005-2022). The publication comes with a short manual, instructing how to perform a trick that makes the images fade in black and white, and eventually disappear.

Published by ROMA Publications, 2023
Design by Mark Manders with Simon Bultynck
Artists' Books