Alexandros Jazakis
Sculptor

Alexandros Jazakis

Prologue (cited from his 1995 – catalogue)

“ Our being is determined by opposites –

there is no life without opposites “…..
 

The tension of captivating opposites

With the antithetical nature of materials I give life to my objects.Not long ago I had made collages consisting of painted cargo ships in combination with flotsam and jetsam. This gave me the idea to make a new series of objects which are to point out the link beween ancient and recent times, between archaic and modern cultures, between present- day materials and parts, pieces, components as old as the hills. I tried to create objects which would point out the nearness of such ancient kingdoms, empires and cultures and our modern civilization.

 “ Panta rhei ” – everything is in a state of flux

Vessels  – often gigantic man-made products – will some day be worn out and become wrecks; they will disappear from the wide sea which symbolizes not only the transitoriness of life but also the endlessness of human thinking, reasoning and ideas.

Small parts of such wrecks, cleaned by the water, reach our shoes where I find them and can use them as building material for something new. Although such objects give you quite a sense of novity  they – at the same time – do remind you of where they come from , and by  being kept quite rusty, they also remind you of how they , too , are bound to end some time.

The material

My materials are flotsam and jetsam, rocks, rusty iron, lead, brass, copper, leather etc.

The fact, that I do use rotten and rusty materials as well is to remind us of Herakleitos´sententious saying “ Panta rei” (everything is in a state of flux).

In my objects I give new life to the materials which had been used otherwise before. This new life will undergo its own changes and finally be ruined again. The materials I find at the shore or elsewhere, later give me the appropriate ideas as to what to do with them. While at work, first collecting and then putting together all the different parts needed for the object in mind, all my thoughts and actions are concentrated completely on that object. As soon as it is finished I look at it as if it was somebody else´s product or a dreamlike manifestation: I sit down in front of it trying to learn about it, to discover it, and as a result I come to know it better and better, until I finally decide that this is exactly what it had to be like and that it could not possibly have turned out any other way.

The project

First I had a dream – then I had an idea -  and meanwhile it has become reality.

On my own property, surrounded by olive- and lemon-trees, I have established an arts - centre with a special area for a sculpture –park.

With a great number of archeological sites such as Delfi. Corinthos,Nemea, Epidauros, Mykene, Olympia etc. close by, the idea of my objects being linked to the ancient culture and myths is obvious.

What´s different, however, is my intention that my objects not simply be reproductions and reminders of the world of our exemplary forerunners.

I use the most diversified techniques and elements  of style, and by doing so I try to prove how wonderfully one cultural period  - no matter how far back – can stimulate another.

As a visitor passing through the first gate you´ll find signs and symbols along your way towards the actual spiritual centre of the installation, before, passing through the second gate, you´ll reach the open pyramid – another centre of the universe.

Around the pyramid I put traces of ancient civilizations, rocks taken from riverbeds and from the sea- shore setups like thefoundations- stones of ancient buildings .

In this very centre of the sculpture - park I intend to have symposia with participiants of all kinds and backgrounds.
Alexandros Jazakis

taken from  the 1995 – Catalogue of the “ Panta rei” – series

Today

The old symbolic pyramid, made of wood, has been replaced ba a 5m – high iron pyramid, inside which there is a 2x2x2m iron cubus, which you can walk on – the other centre of the universe.

On the walls with slots to let the light in you´ll find handwriting – specimen with Homer´s report on the siege of Troja written on tin-foil.

A path framed with 2x1m bases made of concrete takes you to the pyramid. At present there are still different sculptures on these bases, which, however, by and by, will be replaced by statues (135cm high) representing 12 tribes on their way to the pyramid.

Meanwhile I work mainly with iron and chains for my sculptures. Only sometimes I use other materials, too.

My most recent work – theme is “ Forgotten cultures” and my engagement with art ist to me like archeology of the soul.

Giving birth to my  art

An emotional eruption, forgotten cultures, concealed thoughts – discovered ideas

What kind of power is this? It attracts me like a magnet. I enter my studio and start to sort out some pieces of iron and other metals and materials. At that time I´ve no idea yet whatsoever as to what it might be going to be. Then suddenly something develops into some kind of a sculpture. I work at it , I make it and I look at it…I look at it--- and I look at it! Then I feel that this is what it is meant to be and I feel that this is how it has to be.

I give it a name and I give it its place in the series of my complete works. If its outcome meets my expectations, it will not lose its attraction after years either. The influence art and art – objects have on me does not always have the same intensivity, but I always do have to follow the urge of working with art – it´s more than an urge, it´s a need!

The sculptures I make are a part of myself, as if they were my own children. Making  them I experience  a spiritual birth with my soul and myself as their parents. Finding the materials I don´t really see them as materials, but I see the material as a significant part of my object: a scythe or a sickle immediately becomes a wing or a leaf, and it´s not two screws that smile at me when I find them  but two friendly eyes.

Art has been my companion through the larger part of my life just like the veins of my body.Art has outlived all the different periods of my life so far just like my partners, different names, denominations and nationalities. Art is without limits, timeless and independent. Art is my true partner of life. At the very moment when I discovered this to be so, I could feel what it means to be free, and that feels like gliding over  everything else or walking on air.

In the beginning you produce work of art to come out of your shell – and thereafter ( almost as a matter of course) you pass it on to people around you. And in this way the individual views and interpretations of the lookers – on are added to my own. Sometimes not, though, as there will always be people with talents for areas of life other than art.

That doesn´t bother me, as these works “ talk” to me, anyway. Even a handwriting, done with imaginary letters, can tell me a story. At times I simply touch and feel my sculptures to feel their power.

There are moments when I fear I might not have any more ideas, at other times I do not know where to take all the ideas I´m “ pregnant” with.

I´ve known for years now that I am something like a nomad of life. On my way I´ve been roving through marriages, denominations, counrtries, occupations and nationalities. I enjoy hiking and I´ve learned  a lot all the way through this migration

• not the aim is the destination but the way towards your destination ought to be the aim
• Art gives me the energy needed to reach my aims
• and art is a great support for the global communication and understanding among nations ,between people all over the world, rich and poor, young and old, black and white.

I am full of admiration for and most grateful to the people who lived thousands of years ago but communicate with us today through their cave paintings just like the skillful artists from Ancient Greece, Persia, Rom etc. with their enormous buildings, monuments and pieces of art.
This gives me a feeling of admiration, estimation, appreciation and obvious nearness.
It is my absolutely most important wish and longing to be able to be active as a creative artist to the very end of my life.
Even if one day I should lose everything I own and have accomplished in my life, I´ll always have inside me this love for everything that is or has to do with art.

Alexandros Jazakis