This is a book about a single word: skiapod. What began as a task to select a single word from among all existing words, and to expand upon and alter the meaning and mythology of that word, soon became a fascinating journey through our human history and the strange workings of our minds. Discover how a concept can appear through different periods, crystallise in different makers’ minds, and become recorded in various media: from cave drawings to a fax, and from Malevich to Guston. Arranged as a step-by-step process, the book raises questions as well. Why do we need to create images and meaning? What do we try to grasp by creating an image of a mythical figure?