Macael & Earl at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Last night, Earl was a keynote speaker at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was said to be one of the first private events ever held in the Patio from the Castle of Vélez Blanco.
The patio from the castle at Vélez Blanco, near Almeria, is a jewel of early sixteenth-century Spanish architecture. Its structure reflects the Spanish taste of its architect in the asymmetrical layout, Gothic gargoyles, flat-timbered ceilings, and low, segmental arches. Carvers from northern Italy executed the decorative Renaissance details. A sumptuous array of fanciful flora and fauna appears on the spandrels and intrados of the arches, the piers of the balustrade, and the doors and windows. Though elaborate, the motifs preserve the clarity of form, the naturalism, and the three-dimensional quality that were characteristic of the early Italian Renaissance and proved so influential.
The event was for the Companies of Macael with whom The Earl Jackson Architecture Workshop is developing a number of new and beautiful works in natural stone. In an excerpt from his talk, Earl says, "I believe that there is life in all things, and that the life in natural stone is everlasting. Over time, the white marble of Macael has meant many things to many people. It has stood the test of time and has been universally loved by many cultures." When speaking of the origins of Blanco Macael, he quoted part of Ibn Zamrak's poem which is inscribed at the base of the fountain in the Court of Leones in The Alhambra of Granada and said, "...are there not in this garden, wonders that God has made incomparable in their beauty?...here, water and marble seem to be one, without letting us know which one of them is flowing..." Earl confessed, "I am drawn to quarries. To me they represent the moment of exchange between land and man. In that moment, I see our landscape giving of itself to artisans and craftsman to become something new - as if the material and the land had aspirations to be crafted...I can see the dialogue between the quarry master and the stone, each at times, giving way to the will of the other..."
Earl gave thanks for his engagement with the Companies of Macael, saying, "They have embraced our exploratory process, and they have invited us to see and learn all parts of their industry. We have been delighted to discover new opportunities to design with natural stone in unexpected stages of processing the material, and we have found that some of our newest and most rare designs are the result of stones crafted by traditional hand workmanship."
The Earl Jackson Architecture Workshop is committed to a life of learning about, experimenting with, and crafting beautiful works of natural stone in art, architecture, and urban design.