Elevation, 2008
Slip cast and extruded ceramic and wood Paul Sacaridiz’s installation Elevation features hand-made wooden trestles, reminiscent of architects’ drafting tables, provide the support for a series of cast and extruded ceramic objects. From the horizontal stretch of flower-shaped sculptures made from decorative cake molds, to the vertically arranged columns that mimic drapery rods with elegant finials, these ceramic forms reference the domestic sphere. Juxtaposing the smooth, pristine lines of these items are several sagging, coiled pillars, their cracked and coarse surfaces more organic and natural in appearance. A tangled mass of intertwining cylindrical tubes, suggestive of an elaborate system of internal piping, is also included in the networked landscape of ceramic pieces. When viewed as a whole, Sacaridiz’s multi-tiered installation functions as a complex three-dimensional model of a city and ties together several facets of the artist’s interest in the history and ideology behind urban planning, architecture, ornamentation, and interior design. Specifically, Elevation explores the relationship between decorative form and structural function, public spaces and private interiors, urban environments and natural landscapes.
Sacaridiz finds inspiration, in part, from the utopian theories of architecture and city planning that emerged during the late 19th century in response to the simultaneous rise in industrialism and urbanism. For example, architects and city planners believed that enhancing the visual appeal of buildings by adorning their exteriors with organic-inspired ornamentation, or creating picturesque public parks in crowded urban centers, would counteract the artificialness of the modern city and offer an antidote to urban plight. The floral motif of the ceramic molds and the organic, amorphous coil stacks in Elevation stand in for these elements of the utopian ideal.
