Silvas Capitalis (forest head) 2009
European Larch lumber, wooden pegs, glue
Art and Architecture program, Kielder Forest
Northumberland, England
SIMPARCH situated an iconic head on the grounds of the Kielder forest in England, located near the Scottish border. Large enough to enter with stairs leading to a 2nd floor, this large anthropomorphic offering was inspired by the Celtic gods of Britain who are frequently anonymous and depicted merely by the head alone. The forest head is one of many projects hikers and bikers encounter on a central pathway around the park’s lake. Each of the 107 layers of a plywood maquette were scanned and enlarged to make full-scale paper templates. The lumber was stacked/glued/pegged together, then shaped with chainsaw and grinder. In the relatively new and cultivated monoculture of Kielder's "working" forest, this giant head sits watching and listening to the nuances of daily forest life - the creatures, the wind, and the roar of tree harvesting equipment.
SIMPARCH thanks Peter Eng, David Jones, and Simon Banks (Kielder forester) for outstanding assistance on this project.
