Spiral Staircase 2003

James Casebere made this photograph, Spiral Staircase, using constructed models and photography. It’s a process that really highlights how art can be about building new ways of seeing and thinking. The way Casebere plays with light and shadow here is captivating. The walls are bathed in these ethereal, watery patterns, and it’s all so subtly done. Look at how the light glances on the surface of the stairs: the texture of the walls is smooth, almost velvety. You get the feeling he has absolute control over the interplay of light and form. The reflections on the floor are so disorientating that they turn the image into an abstraction. The eye is allowed to wander, and to wonder. It reminds me of some of the quieter moments in a De Chirico painting, where the architecture seems to breathe and dream. Like De Chirico, Casebere seems to suggest that ambiguity and uncertainty are not weaknesses, but spaces for the imagination to come alive.