Delirious Matter

Diana Al-Hadid’s “Delirious Matter” series was very interesting to me. The installation was composed of 6 statues that were displayed at Madison Square Park located in New York City. When I was researching Diana, her three pieces all titled “Synonym” were one of the things that drew me to her. I thought the way Diana chose to capture the female form was captivating. I also thought the way Diana used negative space with these figures and made them appear as if they were suspended in air was astonishing. I enjoy the fact that all three of the forms are slightly different from each other. Al-Hadid said that “Their context obviously changes, but if you’re walking around, they give a little indication that there’s something else going on.” Besides these three figures, the installation also included the sculptures “The Grotto” and “Gradiva”. These sculptures are interesting because together they produce one large sculpture but can also be viewed as separate pieces. The two sculptures are placed so that “Gravida” sits behind “The Grotto”. If you stand at a distance in front of the two panels, it appears as if they each fill in the negative space of their counterpart to make one large scene. I found the references used in the panels to be particularly fascinating. “Gradiva'' was made referencing a novella of the same title about a man obsessed with a sculpture of a woman he saw in Rome. Within Al-Hadid's “Gradiva” you can see the figure of the sculpture woman mid-stride. “The Grotto” references the Hans Memling painting “Allegory of Chastity”. Diana featured the image of a woman laying atop a mountain with two lions at her feet. The last sculpture of the installation, “Citadel”, is definitely eye-catching. It is located inside Madison Square Park’s reflecting pool, emerging from the dark water. It appears almost mountain-like and is based on a famous Citadel in Aleppo that was severely damaged. The water from the reflecting pool is meant to symbolize the land barrier surrounding Aleppo’s Citadel.

"Synonym"

"Citadel"

"The Grotto" and "Gravida"