Q/ERQ SINJUR
FUNGUS ROCK
The sculpture revolves around the iconic islet at Dwejra Bay in Gozo, known as the Fungus Rock. Dating back to the Knights of St John, stories about a rare, special fungus growing on this piece of rock are plentiful. Erroneously referred to as the Gozo Fungus, in Maltese, Gherq Sinjur, meaning the ‘rich root’, the parasitic plant was believed to be endemic to the islet. The Knights, who decreed the rock out of bounds in 1746, believed that the rock had to be well guarded to prevent unauthorised access. Only designated people had access to the rock while the rest of the population were not allowed to set foot on it.
Q/erq Sinjur (Fungus Rock) emerges from a long standing interest in place oriented practice whereby research about place and the environment intertwine with artistic practice and experimentation. The sculpture is aimed to open up opportunities for reassessing Gozo’s natural heritage by using the ‘rock’, now a nature reserve, as a platform to generate an ecocritical discussion about the current and future state of the Gozitan island(s).
Q/erq Sinjur (Fungus Rock) was exhibited in the Identity of an Island exhibition at Teatru Astra, Gozo, 2022.
Q-erq Sinjur, 3D printing, iron rebar, wood, polymethyl methacrylate, 60cm x 110cm x 40cm, 2022
A drone camera was used to enable the acquisition of highly detailed visual information of the islet’s surface and sides, without the need to set foot on it. The forensic style, image capturing process, allowed for highly accurate topographic mapping of the islet’s outermost composition, including the rock formation and the flora that thrives on its garigue-like surface and around its weathered sides. The captured imagery, initially in the form of aerial video footage, was then translated into a spatial model by means of photogrammetry software and point cloud mapping. The computer generated model, based on real world data, was then simplified in terms of polygons, three-dimensionally printed and incorporated into a sculptural piece.
