Many years ago (waaaay back in art school) I used to make small "art brut" figures carved from scrap pine. Then I would scale them up to a larger-than-human version in order to emphasize their crude and niave energy. The 2 most memorable works were 6 and 14 feet tall respectively, covered in smaller carved figures, and painted in garish colours of house paint.
Last Fall I started to make 2 large match sticks, complete with match "heads". From the beginning I intended to burn them when snow covered the ground (which certainly reduced the fire risk) to complete the illusion.
The larger piece (nearly 8 ft) wears a broken crown of royalty, and the smaller figure has only the stunned face of poverty. 
The figures lose something of their meaning when they are set up at a height, so they are best suited to lying on the ground; used up and tossed aside.
The figures lose something of their meaning when they are set up at a height, so they are best suited to lying on the ground; used up and tossed aside.Both pieces are made from a single pine log. The tree was found standing dead in the woods, still solid and strong, but just waiting for a stiff wind to push it over. The pieces were carved with a hatchet and some small chisels. Ultimately they will be finished with matt varnish, merely to maintain structural integrity of the charred wood.
2 comments:
James,
Wow -- conceptually, this is brilliant, and beautifully executed.
These are really intriguing.. That moment when your brain does a doubletake, as it realizes that you're taking in something that is very familiar, and yet completely out of scale, at which point the 'match-heads take shape. Would like to see these in a 'real' context so that I can get the the full effect...
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