Reverence (sculpture)
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Reverence is a sculpture created by Jim Sardonis in 1989. The sculpture depicts two tails of whales "diving" into a sea of grass and is meant to symbolize the fragility of the planet. The tails were made from 36 tons of African black granite and stand 12-13 feet tall.
The sculpture was originally commissioned by British metals trader David Threlkeld, who was then a resident of Randolph, Vermont. The tails were to be an exhibit at a conference center that Threlkeld was planning, but financing fell through and Threlkeld moved to Arizona. They were then moved to Technology Park in South Burlington where Ben & Jerry's ice cream has its corporate headquarters.
The Whale Tails, as the sculpture is more commonly known by local residents, is a landmark of sorts on the side of Interstate highway I-89 between Exits 12 and 13. The sculpture has graced the covers of at least two books, Weird New England by Joseph A. Citro and the art history textbook A World of Art by Henry Sayre. It was included in Weird New England because the sculpture is well-known statewide, has an unusual location, and depicts sea creatures in New England's only landlocked state. A World of Art also includes a CD-ROM with video of the creation of the sculpture.
The Whale Tails are more than just fanciful. Fossils of marine invertebrates found in the Champlain Valley reveal that Vermont was underwater as well during the Paleozoic Era, more than 300 million years ago. the last glacier melted away about 12,500 years ago, and the sea poured in. This inland sea was inhabited by many of the animals that inhabit the North Atlantic today, including mollusks, sea urchins, squid, herring, cod, salmon, seals, and belugas. In 1849, while constructing a railroad, workmen uncovered the bones of a beluga whale in a swampy area in Charlotte, Vermont. The fossil beluga is housed in the Perkins Museum at the University of Vermont. By about 10,000 years ago, the Champlain Valley had risen above sea level. The Valley’s waters drained northward into the St. Lawrence River. This river flows north of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Over 20 fossils of ancient beluga whales have been found around Lake Champlain.
[edit] The artist
Jim Sardonis is a jewelry maker as well. Some of his jewelry is based on Reverence including rings depicting the two tails. Other sculptures by Sardonis can be found throughout Vermont as well as outside the state at such places as New England Aquarium, Yale University, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and Phillips Exeter Academy.
Sardonis has said about his work:
| My work is inspired by natural forms -- human, plant, and animal. I seek opportunities to use my work to emphasize the kinship and interconnectedness of all living things and the importance of the survival of each of them. |
