text by Pedro Ferreira, Caroline Humfress, Dorothea Debus, Jem Finer  

Prologue: Quoting Absence is the first part of a new three-part work by Christodoulos Panayiotou based on the structure of the academic dissertation. Four speakers with connections to Oxford University were invited to have a conversation on the theme of absence. This newly commissioned discussion features the astrophysicist Pedro G. Ferreira, the lecturer in late antique history Caroline Humfress, philosopher Dorothea Debus, and the artist and musician Jem Finer.

The book exists in the form of a transcript of the recorded conversation, which took place on 4 July 2006 at 24/7 Recording and Rehearsal Studios and which is exhibited as a four-channel sound installation at Modern Art Oxford. Cypriot artist Christodoulos Panayiotou crafts concise videos out of ephemeral situations. This exhibition and publication are part of the Arrivals series of exhibitions featuring artists from the new EU countries.