Cardos' Cemetery-Vertical Garden is, by far, the stand out piece of the exhibition. This 12 foot tall, 43 foot long wall installation is created with thousands of amazing lilies. The aesthetic experience that Cemetery-Vertical Garden offers is simply fascinating and requires one to stop and take a moment to let the delicacy of the piece to set in. The lilies are arranged in dense clusters that radiate an incredible feeling of calm and flowing water. The poetic and smooth form of the clustered lilies create an almost cloud-like arrangement, and resemble the peacefully calm experience of watching clouds drifting through the sky on a beautiful breezy summer day.
The impressively rhythmic aesthetic that Cardos has created in the piece sharply contrasts the historical significance that is underlying the piece. Cardos uses this installation to memorialize victims of political violence in her native country of Columbia, as well as referencing victims of violence throughout the world. The majority of the past two centuries have been horrifically violent due to Columbian politics. La Violencia (1946-1966), the War of 1000 Days (1899-1902), and the largest civilian massacre in many years in May of 2002 combine with continual civil war throughout the country, have led to devastation for the Columbian people.
The decades of fighting in Columbia has had a huge impact on Cardos resulting in the underlying theme and political statement surrounding Cemetery-Vertical Garden. The smooth and flowing elegance of the lilies are sharply contrasted to Cardos' iconographic ascription of the lily itself. Each individual, artificial flower represents a person who has been directly affected by political violence and the social instability of Columbia. Cardos specifically chose artificial lilies to idealize as well as make the installation permanent, immortalizing the representation of human beauty and suffering. Interestingly, the compact clusters of the flowers are symbolic of the design and layout of Latin American cemeteries. Combined, these narrative elements add a beautifully dark and horrific twist to the piece, giving it a concrete situation and context for one to admire, contemplate, respect, and commemorate.
Cemetery-Vertical Garden's intrinsic beauty unto itself allows it to be displayed as an avant-garde piece. Without the description or knowledge of its connection to historical and political violence and devastation, the piece still offers an aesthetic experience that is elegantly beautiful. Therefore, negating the influence of the world from the piece and letting it stand pure and free of societal influence has no affect on its aesthetic experience. The art's connection to political violence and devastation makes it emotionally evocative and stunning.
Material Witness is an incredible exhibition bringing together artists from around the world who are reacting to human suffering, existence, and self discovery. It will remain on view at MOCA through April 25, 2004. From Cool Cleveland reader DJ Hellerman dj_hellerman@yahoo.com
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