"Log Through Cement" 2001

"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

"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

"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.