Lost Art-Eastern Sierra Nevada

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"

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.)