Jim Sardonis’s artwork primarily surrounds nature and animal life in sculpture and jewelry form. “Reverence” is no exception to this fact, as Sardonis created two large stone whale tails that stand in Burlington, Vermont. His purpose for creating the piece was to have a “positive impact” and raise public awareness about “the plight of the whale” (Sayre 294). Creating the sculpture was a difficult task though because of the nature and durability of the black granite stone he used. It is not easy to cut and shape a heavy piece of material as Sardonis found, but the significance the black granite had to the meaning of the artwork was much more substantial and worth the difficulty. Sardonis had to use a variety of tools to sculpt the granite, including a large saw and hammer. He used the large saw to cut the stone close to the size he wanted and then proceeded to hammer off the rest because the pieces were easier to break off once small. The complete sculpture of black granite represented the whale both in color, durability, and permanence, which is what Sardonis’s intended.
The funding for this project determined the process for creation and installation of the whale tails. Sardonis’s vision called for a very large amount of space, which he would not have been able to find without outside funding support. There were many factors to deal with, such as the weight of the stones, the location to create the piece, and the equipment used to shape the granite. With help from a local developer and Granite Importers, Sardonis was able to work in a large area with the necessary equipment. Granite Importers was able to help with creating the piece directly, for the company was able to “move stones weighing 22 and 14 tons, respectively, and possessed diamond saws as large as 11 feet for cutting the stones” (Sayre 294). The help of others, both financially and structurally, was a significant part to the overall creation of “Reverence.” As time progresses, architecture advances and changes to fit the needs of society and technology. Although buildings may look different, present day models seem to resemble historical architecture in different ways, as seen in Taos Pueblo and Moshe Safdie’s Habitat. Taos Pueblo was built thousands of years ago, while Moshe Safdie’s Habitat was constructed more recently, in 1967, but both reflect an apartment style block design. Safdie’s design appears to be influenced by the pueblo design through the block layout, color, and outdoor living space. The Habitat is very similar in those areas but more modernized to present day architecture. This new type of design is efficient and aesthetically-pleasing in the fact that it protects from the weather, creates more privacy, and exposes beauty as an art form through the building’s structure and features. With the pueblo apartment block, there were more concerns builders had than the ones who built Moshe Safdie’s Habitat. For one, there was not a variety of different materials to use like there are today, so the pueblo builders had to use only wood beams and adobe, which is “a mixture of earth, water, and straw formed into sundried mud bricks” (Sayre 383). Also, the weather had an impact on the structure of the pueblos because the mixture of earth materials had to be durable enough to be effective as housing under certain conditions. The most major concern for the builders would be the materials, though, but once they realized how to make the houses durable, they were able to use the technique until more advances were discovered. Between the Tao Pueblo and Moshe Safdie’s Habitat, I would personally like to live in Moshe Safdie’s Habitat. I like looking at different buildings, and this one in particular is appealing to look at. The architecture is different the typical buildings seen today and it is much more spacious and personal, for “the stacks are arranged to maximize privacy, access views of the St. Lawrence River, and protection from the weather” (Sayre 383). All of those elements seen in one building make it a desirable place to live.