Lead Plates

"In 1978, Sivert investigated two surface structures based on a given geometric starting point – that is, the same surface rendered in different formats.
He presented them for the first time at Doktor Glas in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, where a longer suite of framed lead plates was exhibited. The plates were covered with lead and placed within a clearly defined, black-painted frame. Each plate was signed with the exact dimensions of the inner field, indicated in square decimeters.

At first glance, one senses the inherent relationships between the various, delimited and divided surfaces. It can almost appear as an archaic sign language. The variation within the same surface area reveals a clear connection to a not yet fully explored, ancient knowledge about the significance of the surface – a kind of alchemy of form.

In alchemy, lead represents the planet Saturn and is associated with the most ignoble and heavy state of the human soul, but also with the starting point for the great spiritual work, Magnum Opus. The great work in alchemy denotes the process of creating the philosopher's stone and achieving a spiritual and physical transformation.

Lead was also associated with the god Saturn, who stood for eclipse, the passage of time, old age, and melancholy. For the alchemists, the goal was to 'transform lead into gold'. In esoteric and spiritual alchemy, this functions as a metaphor for the purification of the soul – a transformation from egoism and ignorance to wisdom and enlightenment. What Sivert was on the trail of remains his secret."
/JÖ