"Deuk Arches" and "Water Will Find Away"

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

"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

"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

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

"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.