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TIMBER: a collaborative interlocking lumber sculpture

February 16 – 18, 2024
cSPACE Eau Claire

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Theme by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett

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_{Photos from the Glenbow Archives, found here.}

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In response to the history of cSPACE Eau Claire as the former offices and vault for the Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber Company, artists & sculptors joined us in crafting a collaborative interlocking lumber sculpture. We worked with Ivan Ostapenko to provide salvaged lumber, and participants created sculptures following (and breaking) the conventions they desired, with the caveat that their work must, at some point, intersect with the sculptures around them – creating one, giant, growing, organic structure.

This event was partly inspired in part by Khalid Omokanye’s socially distanced collaborative sculpture, ISOLATED BABEL, for The Hibernation Project 2021.

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PARTICIPANTS:

Eric Heitmann
Ivan Ostapenko
Caitlind r.c. Brown
Wayne Garrett

TIMBER was one of our few open themes at this year’s Hibernation Project (the wonderful problem of support). Immediately, Ivan Ostapenko took the lead, helping us smash apart pallets and scavenge wood (thanks Ivan!) Eric Heitmann joined us to create a fanned emphasis to the entrance of the sculpture.

Building the sculpture was an organic process of balance and accumulation. While many of our choices somehow became reminiscent of Hye-Seung Jung’s sculpture at WRECK CITY in 2013, we did our best to differentiate from her lovely work through choices like the point-perspective drawing, visible only from the seated position within the piece and loosely referencing the rings of a tree.

TIMBER also crept outwards onto the patio wrapping around cSPACE Eau Claire – like a crystalline structure, growing outwards.

A river of nails (previously pulled from the wood beams) trickled towards the more deadly of the nail-riddled lumber, propped against a red curtain in the corner.

One of our visitors, Peter Rishaug, also noticed that visitors – when positioned correctly – could see a straight shot from one side of the sculpture to the other.

Thanks to Ivan & Eric for their work, all the pals and family members who visited, and to cSPACE Eau Claire for offering the intriguing context to respond to!