You’ve seen them everywhere—in and on buildings, rising and protruding from the streets. They perform vital functions and are necessary contraptions of the industrial era. You probably don’t know what they do … but whatever it is is essential.
Daniel Pelavin has taken their alien shapes to heart and art and produced an intricately designed book filled with his pipe dreams. While each is enticing on its own, the drawings that emerge of his obsessive reimagining gives these common devices an otherworldly aura.
Read what he says about them below.
What was your impetus to make this homage to pipes?
I find the sculptural forms they seem to take on enchanting.
I’ve long admired the look and form of standpipes and other such contraptions. In some instances they look like families, with dads, moms and kids. Do you have a similar affinity?
This occurs to me frequently.
Do you go out looking for intricately designed plumbing apparatuses or do they just come to you?
I never go out with the intention of finding things to photograph and draw, but I do rejoice when something wonderful presents itself to me. I also receive photographs of pipe configurations from friends and relatives.
Your texts accompanying the specimens are rather poetic. There is a certain sculptural joy in these pieces, aside from your complex renderings.
The descriptions come to me naturally while I’m engaged in the production of the pieces.
What do you want people to take away from these?
I want them to see the beauty, secrets and mystery that hide in the most mundane places, as well as giving them a peek at the process of creating the images.