Richard Speer - author, art critic, and curator
To my sensibility, the sculpture “Lost” by Gard Jones is high-formalist but also Romantic due to the pristine geometry counterpoised with the bound stone, which I read as a Jungian archetype. It is accessible to many different interpretations, none of which really ought to be spelled out in a literal way.
The laden stone bound with rope lies upon an implacable, intractable black field—this perfect geometry of the circle surrounding this manifestly imperfect organic form. Peeking out from under this black field is L.E.D. light, providing the viewer with everything from the most elemental primitive materials to the most au courant. I absolutely love its dialogue between the ancient and futuristic. I can’t look at it without thinking of the famous monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001 A Space Odyssey,” a film that begins in prehistory and ends in the deepest reaches of the future.
Like the monolith, Jones’s sculpture is arcane. It appeals to our not understanding exactly what it is.