DG - DANZIG - A FLOWING PALIMPSEST

IDEA / CONCEPT

This text is part of a broader exploration of the concepts of travel, perception, enigma, epiphany, history, and identity. The idea began with a trip to Danzig/Gdańsk in February 2024, leading to a filmic interpretation of my travel experiences.

There are two short film projects:

• DANZIG - A FLOWING PALIMPSEST
• DANZIG - DIE ALTE WERFT

Here I present the concept and the filmic script, a kind of inner monolog accompanying the filmic sequences.

DANZIG24 - A Cinematic Journey Through Time

"DANZIG - A FLOWING PALIMPSEST" is a filmic exploration that delves into the layered history of the city of Danzig, now known as Gdańsk. Through the lens of a traveling writer and filmmaker, the project captures the essence of a city that has been a crossroads of cultures, politics, and identities. The film navigates through the city's complex past, from its Hanseatic League days to its pivotal role in World War II and its transformation in the modern era.

By intertwining personal narratives, historical accounts, and visual storytelling, the film paints a vivid picture of Danzig as a living, breathing palimpsest — where each era leaves its mark, yet the essence of the city remains ever-flowing and dynamic. The project aims to evoke a sense of place and time, inviting viewers to reflect on the interplay between history and memory, and the ways in which a city's identity is continually rewritten.

DANZIG24 - A Flowing Palimpsest (VIDEO)

View the video on my YouTube channel:

Danzig - A Flowing Palimpsest (SCRIPT)

A filmic refection on Danzig

WATCH, WATCH, WATCH

Our eyes capture more than the visible. Danzig becomes a mirror of our dreams, a prism of our visions. The gaze glides over facades, catching details that tell stories — an endless play of light and shadow, vision and memory.

WALK, WALK, WALK

Steps echo through the alleys, merging the body's movement with the city's voices. Each stone, each facade is a layer of time, a page of an endless book. We wander through history, our movements writing new chapters.

THE CITY IS A PALIMPSEST OF HISTORY

Danzig is a palimpsest, a place where time has left its marks. Old walls whisper of past times while modern structures weave new stories. The city is a living archive, where each layer still reveals another time, another story.

TRAVELING IS A FORM OF SEEING

Traveling is a form of seeing. It is a deep immersion into the unknown, a search for the hidden. The traces of our travels are the paths of our discoveries, each step a new perspective, each glance a new insight.

CROSSING THE BORDERS

In Danzig, the boundaries between dream and reality blur. The city invites us to explore its hidden corners, to unveil its secrets. We touch reality, yet at the same time, we evoke sleeping ghosts, crossing the borders to the realm of the imaginary.

TRAVELING IS ABOUT EXPLORING TERRITORIES

Traveling means exploring spaces, traversing territories. Danzig is an uncanny place, a landscape of memories and ghosts. Every square, every street is a testimony of the unexpected and the inconceivable. The space of the enigma and the epiphany.

VISION IS ABOUT MOVEMENT AND TIME

Our vision moves through time. Danzig is a river of history, and we are the travelers crossing this stream. The city reveals itself in motion, its essence unfolds in the flow of time.

SCORES, SCOPES AND SCAPES

Our perspectives are the landscapes we traverse, scored by the rhythms of our bodies and minds. Danzig’s architecture is the canvas upon which our imagination unfolds, each vista a new scene in our internal film. We explore these urban scapes, composing our own scores to expand the scope of our perception.

THE VISUAL ARTIST IS CONSTANTLY EXPLORING THE PROCESS OF SEEING

The visual artist is a constant explorer of seeing. In Danzig, this process intensifies, every corner, every detail a new discovery. The city becomes a laboratory of seeing, a place where perception is redefined.

Danzig, seen through the lens of our intuition, becomes a poetic journey. It is a dialogue between the visible and the invisible, between past and present. Our steps, our gazes weave into a narrative that lets the essence of the city shine in a new light.