Christopher Casanova's Blog

Lost Art-Eastern Sierra Nevada

2011-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range located in California and Nevada that is over 400 miles in length and is the home to many tall peaks including Mount Whitney(14,505 feet), the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. During the late summer month of August, I embarked on a multi-day trek into the heart of the eastern Sierra. The trip started outside of the town of Independence at a trail head named Onion Valley and finished over a week later at the top of Mount Whitney. The purpose of the trip was to create art works along the way, ephemeral installations, as part of my "Lost Art" series.

View from Forester Pass 13200 feet

Photographer: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

August 2011

My intention was to complete a piece everyday, however, due to foul weather and general exhaustion, I completed only two sculptures. I had grossly underestimated the Sierra Nevada mountains. The extreme altitudes and grueling climbs made it difficult to just survive.

"Forester" Installation View #1

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

"Forester" Installation View #2-Sunset

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

"Forester" Installation View #3-Silhouette

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

My initial idea was to make sculptures that involved the setting or rising sun. Working with tools that estimated the exact position of the sun at sunrise and sunset, my plan was to construct installations with windows that would frame the rising or setting sun.

It was so beautiful and pure that at first, I had difficulty imaging what I could possibly construct. It was very important to me that what ever I made would indeed disappear on its own. These places can only be visited by foot or in some cases horse back, and are untouched by any thing but nature. I wanted to leave no trace and work with elements that were already in some state of erosion.

At the higher altitudes, above the tree line, I started to find these really beautiful sections of tree trunks, that were bleached by the sun. I gathered stones and built walls that incorporated these tree trunks. The end result were these sculptures with windows. I discovered that they were beautiful with full light, very interesting with the sun shining through the windows and provocative back lit seen as silhouettes. I was very happy with the results.

"Big Horn" Installation View #1

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

"Big Horn" Installation View #2-Sunrise

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

"Big Horn" Installation View #3-Silhouette

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Materials: Tree trunk and stones

August 2011

"Deuk Arches" and "Water Will Find Away"

2011-07-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

In January 2010, I visited the Deukmaejian Wilderness for the first time. The wilderness area had been completely devastated eight months earlier by the infamous Station fires. The fires had burned everything to the ground and the winter rains that followed caused such an extreme amount of erosion that the once well maintained trails and park were completely obliterated. Nature had pushed the "reset" button.

I had been invited to participate in an exhibition to raise money to rebuild the wilderness park.

The exhibition was a great success. I presented a video "Water Will Find a Way," and

photographs of an installation, named "Deuk Arches," that I had built in a remote section of the Dunsmore creek more than two miles up into the steep ashy mountain. The installation, consisted of six arches built over the the babbling creek, and was built during a three day two night stay in April.

"Deuk Arches" Installation View #1

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Deukmaejian Wilderness Park

San Gabriel Mountains, California

Materials: River Stones

"Deuk Arches" Installation View #2

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Deukmaejian Wilderness Park

San Gabriel Mountains, California

Materials: River Stones

"Deuk Arches" Installation View #3

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Deukmaejian Wilderness Park

San Gabriel Mountains, California

Materials: River Stones

I have visited the park several times since the completion of the piece. It is amazing how quickly nature begins again. It seems to have started slowly, with just wildflowers and grass, but is now a vibrant young forested area again. When I last visited in May of 2011, four of the six arches were still intact.

"Water Will Find A Way"

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Deukmaejian Wilderness Park

San Gabriel Mountains, California

"Nothing Came To Mind" March 2010

2010-03-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

"Nothing Came To Mind" is an installation that was created in the parking lot of my studio at the Santa Monica Airport. The installation was built in coordination with the 4th annual art walk. The timbers are supported by mini-structures and are mortised together. Some of the joints were bolted together, in order to insure that the structure was sturdy enough for adults and children to climb. The space created by the intersecting timbers became a very inviting environment for people to sit, recline, and reflect. The installation was on display for one week.

"Nothing Came To Mind" installation view(A)

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Santa Monica, California 2010

Dimensions: 11 feet x 11 feet

Materials: Recycled structural timbers, steel, aluminum

"Nothing Came To Mind" installation view(B)

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Santa Monica, California 2010

Dimensions: 11 feet x 11 feet

Materials: Recycled structural timbers, steel, aluminum

"Logs In Transport" 2001-2004

2009-09-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

"Logs In Transport" installation view taken at the L'usine

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Paris, France 2001

Dimensions: 5 feet(h) x 5 feet(w) x 9 feet(l)

Materials: Logs from storm fell trees and steel.

"Logs in Transport" was originally conceived of for an exhibition at a Centre Cultural in Saint Denis, named L'usine. The piece resided there for two months, and then was disassembled and moved to my studio at 5 rue Rollin in the 5th arrondisment of Paris. Resting there for two years, "Logs in Transport" was moved once again and was permanently installed in a public park on the Quai Andre Citroen along the river in the 15th Arrondisment, roughly where you would go to see the miniature Statue of Liberty that is on display on the Pont de Grenelle.

"Logs In Transport" installation view taken at 5 rue Rollin

If you have ever driven in the mountains, in any country, you would have likely seen logging trucks transporting logs to the mill. These trucks and their payload were the inspiration for "Logs In Transport."

Lost Art in the Lost Coast-Time Lapse Video

2009-03-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

Lost Art

Lost Coast Project October 2008

Time Lapse Video

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Lost Coast, Northern California

This 6 min and 30 second video is a making of video shot during the completion of 4 sculptures in the Lost Coast in Northern California. This video kind of ruins the mystery surrounding the finished work, but I think it is very interesting and worth the sacrifice.

The Lost Coast Project took place in October 2008 and is part of a series of similar work that the artist calls "Lost Art." There is still a lot more to see of the Lost Art series, but this should be a nice little taste.

"Log Through Cement" 2001

2009-02-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

"Log Through Cement"

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Paris, France 2001

Dimensions: Concrete slab is 4' x 6'

Materials: Fallen tree, concrete, and steel.

It is a little funny how much a 4' x 6' slab of concrete weighs. This sculpture was made for an exposition at a cultural space outside of Paris. I poured the slab on site, and I had a really challenging time getting the mass of concrete from horizontal to vertical. As often times is the case, I was working alone, with pry bars, timbers, and a chain attached to a car. "Log Through Cement" was transported and set up three times before it took permanent residence in the front yard of a client's home in Rueil-Malmaison, France.

"Hollow Wood Cube" 2009

2009-02-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

"Hollow Wood Cube"

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Santa Monica, 2009

Dimensions: 18" x 18" x 18"

Materials: Found timbers and blocks of wood

My studio is located in a hanger at the Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California. I have a rather small interior work space, basically two single car garages length wise, which I use for painting and planning. There is also a covered outside workshop which is where I make smaller sculptures. "Hollow Wood Cube" comes from this covered workshop.

The piece, as its name implies, is hollow and is made from re-sized found timbers and blocks. I made it hollow so that it would be relatively light. There are so many facets and details to see that I wanted the sculpture to be easy to move. Turns out, it is rather heavy, but one can still flip and turn the cube. The sculpture was built from the inside out and there is no evidence of attachment (i.e. screw heads or nails.)

Lost Art in the Lost Coast-Continued

2009-02-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

"Buck Creek" Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Lost Coast, California

Solo Trip 2008

I was visiting El Capitan state beach, just north of Santa Barbara and I started to build models of a sculpture that I wanted to build. I found small little lengths of driftwood sticks and arranged them in "Lincoln Log Cabin" like stacks. Then I placed a stone on top. I was amazed that even in such a small scale, the structure was able to support a tremendous amount of weight. The stone practically floated.

This was the starting point for the Lost Art sculpture series. The installation at Buck Creek was the first work of the series. It was built at the mouth of a creek in the Lost Coast about 11 miles north of Shelter cove, the last bit of civilization in the area. I made a solo trip to the area and hiked for two days to reach the site. Using fallen timbers and large pieces of driftwood, I fashioned a lifting gantry in the form of a pyramid. With the aid of the gantry, rope and pulleys I lifted the stone into the air. After arranging the driftwood support , I lowered the boulder. It was a bit of trick to get everything lined up correctly. Once the boulder was in position, the weight settled and the installation was complete. I disassembled the gantry and walked away. The installation survived 4 days, until an eight foot high tide took it down in the night.

'Big Wheel' Paris, France 2002/2004

2008-12-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

'Big Wheel' Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Place des Invalides, Paris, France 2004

In 1999 a wind storm named Lothar swept through France, knocking down tens of thousands of trees in forests surrounding Paris. That winter, following the storm, I began to work with fallen trees in the forests north of Paris. The tree trunks that I used for 'Big Wheel' where from the Forest of Fontainebleau. Each of the thirteen pieces were spliced together with a blind square stub tenon to form the ring measuring over three meters in diameter.

'Big Wheel' Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Place des Invalides, Paris, France 2004

The majority of the wood work was done in the forest with hand tools and the final fitting done in my atelier in the 5th. The wheel fit together and came apart with relative ease and was first assembled as part of an solo exhibition at the Galerie Ortille Fourcat in the 4th arrondisment. Two years later it was reassembled in the gardens of the Place des Invalides, where it remained as a semi-permanent guerilla installation.

'Big Wheel' Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Galerie Ortille-Fourcat, Paris, France 2002

Lost Art in the Lost Coast-part one

2008-11-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

This year I have made two trips to the Lost Coast in Northern California- one solo trip and another with a team of five. My visits have been for the sole purpose of building sculptures on the coast as part of a series of recent work that I am calling "Lost Art." I am in the process of preparing an exhibition of the photography of the sculptures, that were themselves torn down by the incoming high tides.

The Lost Coast, Northern California

Viewed from the south

Photo taken by Christopher Casanova

The Lost Coast is a protected mountainous coastal area in Northern California about 3 hours north of San Francisco. Extremely powerful surf and weather push the natural environment in this 60-mile stretch of forgotten coastline to high levels of growth and erosion. There are no roads.

"South of Shipman's" Installation in progress

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Lost Coast, Northern California October 2008

Photo taken by Gaston Pierre

The sculptures consist of very large boulders that are hoisted into the air and then lower on to fragile structures made out of driftwood sticks.

"Glacial Arch" Kärradal, Sweden 2002

2008-11-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

"Glacial Arch" Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Karradal, Sweden 2002

It is true that I love Sweden. This installation was built in a bay just out side of the town of Karradal in the Kattegat sea area. The water was waist deep and the sculpture was built about 100 meters out in the bay. It took two days of concentrated effort to hand carry the rocks from land to the site, an existing protruding rock formation. The arch took many attempts but only one afternoon to complete once I had all of the elements in place. That morning, I had gone into the forest and cut y-shaped branches from fallen trees. The branches were used as crutches for the individual stones, which were roughly the size of large watermelons. Once the keystone was in place, I carefully removed the braces and the arch was complete.

A lot of people waded out to take a closer look and though I expected someone to eventually push it over, the sculpture remained in tact for the remainder of my stay in Karradal. I have no idea how long it stood, but I like to imagine that it is still part of that beautiful horizon. I photographed this work with a Makina 6/7 medium format camera and the sculpture remains now in small editions of prints made from those negatives.

I was very pleased with this piece of work, but what sticks in my mind are the memories of the fresh berries that I picked every morning for breakfast and the chill of the water. Karradal is in south western Sweden, maybe 100 km south of Goteborg. The stones were found in fields and are the debris of glaciers moving across the land many many centuries ago.

Off the grid- Set designed and built for Tom Tailor Print Shoot 2007

2008-11-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

Built as the setting for a print and TV commercial shoot for a German clothing company-Tom Tailor- the design of this structure became a study of the concept "Off the Grid."

Would it not be terrific to live directly on the beach, even if you had to sacrifice a few comforts here and there?

According to the original plan, we were to have three days to complete the construction of the set. We started on day one to collect our materials, driving around the beach with a giant 4x4 forklift and several 4x4 golf carts. One hour into our day, the federal park rangers showed up with the sheriff. Unfortunately, they came to inform us that the location we had chosen for the site of our construction was a part of a wild life reserve. There was a bit of mix up regarding the permit that had been pulled and we were asked firmly to leave our vehicles where they lay and stop all work until the misunderstanding was cleared. It took 2 days to resolve the misunderstanding and we were finally given permission to start working at three in the afternoon the day before the shoot was scheduled. Plus, we had to move our whole operation one mile up the beach. I had made a model as part of my presentation for the director, Dewey Nicks, and his clients. My crew and I spent those two days of idle time reviewing this model and planning every step of the construction. When we were finally able to start working, we all knew exactly what to do and everyone one worked at break neck speeds and we got it done that night. What a great crew. Please check out the time lapse video below. I think that it is pretty cool.

Anything could be inside this box!

2008-11-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

Northbound 405 freeway Los Angeles, California

"Crates in Arch" Paris, France 1996

2008-11-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

"Crates in Arch" Installation View

Artist: Christopher Casanova

Paris, France 1996

This installation was created using fruit crates both stolen and borrowed from a near by open air market. The arch is one of many arches located in the 12th arrondisment on the Avenue Daumesnil. At the time, the arches, the support of an old aqua duct, were being retrofitted to become the studios and work shops of artists and artisans. This particular arch was the studio of a glass blower named Scott Slagerman. The facade was made up of big panes of glass, which made for an incredible play on light- during the night, as viewed from the street, the interior lights were filtered by the airy thin walled wood crates, emitting a really beautiful glow, and the opposite was true during the day when inside of the space.

101 Avenue Daumesnil Paris, France 75012

As can be imagined, the construction of this piece required a lot of crates. I was sure that I was going to have to gather up the crates by less then honorable means, so I rode my bicycle through the market very early in the morning and grabbed up crates attaching them to a sled that I had cobbled together and pulled them back to the site. After four predawn excursions, I thought it wise to get an idea of how many crates I still needed to nab. Sadly, all of my hard work did not even add up to one complete row. It is true that the thought of abandoning my plans did come to mind. However, before giving up, I decide that I would try a different approach. I wandered through the market and eventually found out that the empty crates were all recycled- loaded up in large trucks and shipped out of Paris city limits. I had the good fortune of meeting one of the owner/drivers of the recycled fruit crate company and after showing him my drawings and describing my plans he agreed to deliver a 40 foot container full of crates to 101 Avenue Daumesnil. What a break! He helped me unload and returned two weeks later on the day of the scheduled removal of the installation and loaded up all of the crates. I knew him only by his first name, but I am ever in debt to Francois.

When the installation came down, I had this idea that I could simply pull a couple critical crates and the whole wall of crates would come tumbling down. This was not the case. I had lashed the crates to the structure in several spots for added stability and that is exactly what I achieved. The wall of crates had become a superstructure and would not fall. I ended up removing vast quantities of crates and only then did it fall. The tie wire that I used to fasten the crates to the facade held several crates in mid air. In the photos the hanging crates give the illusion that the piece is in the middle of falling, which is rather nice.

"Crates in Arch" Installation view-falling