John LeKay:
Paradichlorobenzene.
KS:
Precisely what is that material and how is it utilized
conventionally?
JL:
Paradichlorobenzene is a white crystalline substance
that is formulated by the chlorination of benzene and is
most commonly used as a deodorizer, specifically in
urinal cakes and closet fresheners.
KS: When
did you initially begin working with Paradichlorobenzene
and how did you realize that the substance was
malleable?
JL: I
started handling it about 7 years ago (1987) when I was
working on the "Olfactory Objects". The first time I
used it was when I placed a circular urinal cake inside
of a perforated stainless steel box.
KS: What
methodology do you use to produce these sculptures?
JL: I
carved the heads out of blocks of the material using an
ordinary wood chisel. For the detailed parts, I use
another instrument. I cast the angel from a concrete
statue that I purchased in a garden center that
specialized in garden gnomes.
KS: Are
the sculptures actually disappearing? What will happen
to them in a few years from now?
JL: Yes,
they are disappearing and re-appearing in new
crystallized forms. They transform from a solid state
into a vaporized state and then to a solid again. They
are contained in air-tight plexi glass vitrines. A
scientist who manufactures this chemical informed me
that theoretically speaking, these sculptures should
last a long time as long as no one opens the boxes up.
The crystals will continue to grow larger, but they will
not disappear completely because they are captured in
their own vapor that they generate. These
self-contained, perpetually changing sculptures will
eventually be unrecognizable from my original conception
or carving and they will become something entirely
different. Right now the shapes of the heads are kind
of grotesque, skull like and demonic, but the dazzling
material makes them look like enormous diamonds,
sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Maybe in time they will
become angelic. The heads kind of bloom like beautiful
flowers; I see these pieces as a post-modern from of
cubism, but in a chemical manner - a transforming
chemical cubism in four dimensions.
KS: Why
are the heads representations of demons and why is the
angel surrounded and outnumbered?
JL: It
could be many reasons. A couple of years ago was
walking down 5th Ave and looked up and saw these
gargoyles on buildings. I had never really paid much
attention to them before. Some of them were really
diabolical.
KS: What
about the angel. it appears as if it is going to be
assaulted. Is the angel a metaphor or symbol of
alienation fear or grief.
JL: Yes it
is about all those facets of life and death, but I also
see the positive aspects of the piece . The angel is
going to escape in time either through a crystal
metamorphosis or maybe by some other kind of
intervention, like some one opening up the plexi shell
and allowing it to disappear and be reborn with its
chemical reaction to oxygen. The first two hells
angels "Spiritus Callidus" and "Vastator Antiquus" I
made in early 93 have already transformed.
KS: The
French and Latin titles suggest a medieval aspect to the
sculptures. Was that intentional?
JL: Actually,
I did visit the Cloisters in New York around that time.
"Neutral Angel" is mentioned in Dante's divine comedy
and Latin is more authentic for the demon heads. The
ancient rites of exorcism are in Latin. Rimbaud talks
about monsters and angels in his second delirium.
KS: Is
the Duchampian urinal reference intentional.
JL: I
understand how one could perceive urinal cakes as a bit
of a piss-take on the urinal ready-made thing.
KS: What
kind of memories, associatively speaking, does the
paradichlorobenzene odor convey to you?
JL: Many
things, memories of Catholic school bathrooms.
Institutions that use it, like airports, factories, art
museums and pubs.
