Hierarchy
Stratachrome sculpture · 2022
- ArtistDavid Spriggs
- Date2022
- Dimensions56 × 20 × 56 cm
22 × 8 × 22 in - MaterialsAcrylic on layered plexiglass in an LED lit plexiglass display case
- CommissionRoyal Commission for Riyadh City
- ExhibitionNoor Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Two fields occupy a vertical order. Black is suspended above white, turning position itself into a structure of value.
Hierarchy uses stacked rectangular forms to examine how an apparently neutral arrangement can acquire social and political meaning. The distinction between upper and lower implies ranking before any narrative is supplied. Authority is expressed through placement, scale, and visual weight.
The composition also reverses familiar associations between lightness and ascent. Darkness appears to hover while the luminous field is held beneath it. Within the transparent volume, however, neither remains isolated: their edges soften, their depths overlap, and the apparent order becomes less secure as the viewer moves.
Order and value
Hierarchy is not represented through figures or symbols of office. It is produced as a spatial logic. One form is given precedence over another, revealing how readily position can be interpreted as importance.
The sculpture preserves this unequal relation while making its construction visible. Its clarity is therefore double edged: the arrangement appears inevitable from the front, yet its transparent depth exposes the layers through which that appearance has been made.
Hierarchy was commissioned by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and first presented at Noor Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2022.