Disillusionment of the Toiler
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, USA
June 4, 2016 — August 28, 2016
Disillusionment of the Toiler commissioned and installed as part of the Everson Biennial Exhibition, Kindred Beasts
Everson Museum of Art
“Linda Sormin’s installation, “Disillusionment of the Toiler,” is provocative and chaotic…she works with dirty dishes, cracked dishes, raw clay, and streams of glazed ceramics positioned either on wood or on a steel pole that stretches from a wall to a base on the floor. By contrast, a sedate display case housing items made by the long-defunct Robineau Pottery Company sits on the edge of the installation.”
The Disillusionment of the Toiler offered my response to The Apotheosis of the Toiler, also known as Adelaide Robineau’s Scarab Vase. In 1910, Adelaide Robineau spent over 1000 hours creating this vase, the most sought-after work by visitors to the Everson Museum.
My approach to making the installation was inspired by Robineau's elegant renderings of the scarab (dung beetle) on this vase. The scarab works its way diligently upward toward its "food ball" - the intricately carved finial at the top of her vase. As I was installing, I watched YouTube videos of dung beetle rolling their food balls (balls of dung) in pairs.
Questioning Robineau’s romantic vision of the glory of work, I collected and incorporated ceramic shards from the site of the now-defunct Syracuse China factory. Founded in 1871, the popular American ceramics company closed on April 6, 2009, eliminating 275 local jobs. Laid-off workers expressed anger at the closure and at the loss of the business to cheaper overseas labor. Quotes from local newspapers included: “We took pride in our work”, and “I never called in sick”.
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