Title: ‘The Walled up wife’ a.k.a ‘The Ballad of Mason Clement’

“There were these masons, nine or twelve, they say. And they took upon themselves to erect a building - strong and beautiful, like none there was before. And they worked day and night. And night and day they worked, but whatever they constructed during the day collapsed at night, and whatever they built during the night fell to the ground by morning.”

The Hungarian version of the story is called „Kőműves Kelemen balladája”, „The ballad of Mason Clement”. It is rooted in the fifteenth century and it first appeared in print in the nineteenth century. It has been adapted over the centuries to the present day as the theme of plays, novels, fine arts creations, a rock opera, and even a Tetris game.
The version I like the most and would like to build the sculptures about is telling the story of the twelve masons and their leader Kelemen (Clement), the master mason, who took upon themselves to build the fortress of Déva, for a very good payment. Kelemen’s motivation is not the payment though but rather the will to create and build something extraordinary that the world has not seen before. He is determined to show humanity’s purpose which is: to create and to achieve their goal so the world can see that humanities power is limitless but only if we believe in ourselves.
The rest of the crew signed up mostly for the promised and very good payment so they can become rich and have fancy ‘things’. Although the villagers believe in superstitions and believe that the area is cursed because of a woman who left her child behind and saved herself and her wealth, that is why the walls of the fortress are falling. They make a pact with each other that the curse is only broken if they sacrifice a woman, mix her ashes into the mortar and so the walls are not collapsing anymore. Kelemen, the leader who diagrees and think it is just a superstition, in the end, agrees.
The sculptures will be based on this inspirational story. It will also be part of my MFA thesis at Academy of Art University (AAU) where there is a possibility to exhibit it. By our plan, it also will be showing at the Orly Museum of Hungarian Culture in Berkeley, California for viewing by the Hungarian American and local community to serve the purpose of showing the Hungarian heritage to every generation, young and elderly.

‘Walled up Wife’ - ‘The Ballad of Mason Clement’ - ‘Komuves Kelemen’