In his book Canetti distinguishes some of the symbols of the masses such as the grain and the forest, the rain, the wind, the sand, the sea and the fire. He sees them as “aggregates which do not consist of people and yet are perceived as masses.” The collage of texts describing them is presented as a visual riddle. The passages included in this excerpt address one of the symbols of masses according to the author. Woven into the structure of the raster image, these texts can only be read up close, and can only be encompassed by a glance, making it possible to see an image – only from afar. The two processes are incompatible – we have the possibility at any given moment to experience either one or the other, never both simultaneously. At the same time, there is an inextricable link between them. What the text describes, without naming it, is the answer to the riddle – visually embodied in a raster image.

The project involves a building that no longer exists and a place that doesn’t look the way it once did. This seems to be the natural course of the dynamic present that is constantly remodelling the environment around us. The idea for the project is conceived through two intersecting lines – the first is a documentary photograph, one of the few to capture the burning of the Sofia State Circus in 1983, and the second is excerpts from Elias Canetti’s text Masses and Power. The fire that destroyed the Sofia State Circus is one of those that left a deep mark on the city’s history. It is speculated that there is no officially proven cause. Pieces of information reach us that seem to try to build the whole picture, but never succeed. The series of visuals use photographs of the space as it appears as of July 2024, the intention being to show variations of possible temporal weaves of text in the environment. They do not purport to present a finished version ready for implementation, but rather explore the possibilities for such.

Nevena Georgieva is a freelance scenographer and lecturer in Painting at the Department of Scenography at the National Academy of Arts. In 2021 she defended her dissertation at the Department of Scenography of the National Academy of Arts, where she also completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She works in theatre and film projects of various nature. In 2023 she participated as a scenographer in the Bulgarian pavilion of the Prague Quadrennial – PQ Bulgaria, Late Anthroposcene Findings.