‘Panta Rhei’ is an old philosophical saying by Heraclitus that can be interpreted as ‘all that is observable flows continuously’. In the spirit of this reflection, Daan Paans attempts with Floating Signifiers to provide insight into the constant transformation that things and phenomena undergo under the influence of a complex set of factors. In a broader sense, he investigates how changeability is expressed in the visual culture of the past, present and future.

Over the past ten years, Paans has analysed the genesis of a wide range of subjects that come together in this publication. This has resulted in case studies, ranging from the extinct aurochs, the pre-human paradise, the future life of an oak tree, meteorites from sci-fi films, variations on the lion-man or Indiana Jones’ Golden Idol.

The case studies in this book attempt to provide insight into how archetypal primal forms in their ‘transmuted’ form continue to have an effect on our contemporary (visual) culture. With the ambiguous nature of his work, Paans aims on the one hand to indicate the deeply cherished bond that we have with ‘ecology’, but on the other hand also to offer the insight that this ecology is subject to an evolutionary transformation process.

Paans’ research methodology relies heavily on the photographic medium, but in its development he usually expresses himself in the form of multimedia installations, in which he uses video, 3D renders, sculpture and documentary archive material – depending on the nature and meaning of his choice of subject.

Floating Signifiers is a rich, comprehensive book, in which Daan Paans has translated his philosophical reflections on the imaginary nature of time and space into a meaningful form.

With an essay by Nicky Heijmen

All edition prints are an edition of 10.