RIVIERA REPORTER MAGAZINE (Cote de Azur) publishes article on my work. Two years on, a fantastic adventure and a meeting with Nick Kent from the Riviera Reporter Magazine. RIVIERA REPORTER MAGAZINE ISSUE August 2014. (Reporter Nick Kent ) Title: Is it Art? Naturally. There’s something stirring the imagination down in the woods near La Colle sur Loup. Sculptor Spencer Byles spent a whole year in all weathers making temporary sculptures from natural materials deep in three forests that clothes the valley of the Loup river. Spencer does not publicize the where abbots of hidden work.s He prefers people Discover them by accident. The word spreads and the curious search for the art that lives in nature is the challenge for the viewer. I have to confess! I cheated on the search, I was fortunate to get a guided tour from both Spencer and his wife Paula to his nearest location above the village where they both live. After a short while on the trail I felt a strange mixture of calm and exhilaration – the spell that Spencer’s creations weave on the mind and the magic of a forest gallery got to me. Around one corner three enormous rings of woven branches beckon like doors to another reality, around another a friendly bear rises through the moss and stares at me from his nest!. All the works were made using “found” materials gathered over many weeks in each individual location. “Its very so important that each sculpture is made from the very materials from where it sits.” says Spencer. “This makes the work feel like it belongs in the space and also helps to camouflage it to some extent.” Spencer works on his own, regardless of the enormity of some of his sculptures, he finds a way to suspend works however large. “Safety is a very important aspect I take very seriously, so I do attach safety cables to larger heavier works to stabilize them.” From where did the impulse come to create this art, free in every sense? Says Spencer,“Every now and then I seem to separate from what’s expected of me and step into something outside of the norm. It rejuvenates me and makes me feel this is a better place to be. I feel transformed, my responsibilities shift and I have more control and meaning to my life. This project is one of those moments.” Without needing to justify why or what he does or even where he makes his sculptures Spencer does exclaim he prefers to work with nature in wild unmanaged forests. He hopes his work might draw more attention to these often disregarded and unforgotten areas of forests. The project in La Colle Sur Loup A Year in a French Forest was obviously the result of that inner transformation. Maybe it’s an indulgence, but it’s one that has been carefully and sensitively considered. “I took over one and a half years out of my normal life and spent that time submerging myself in three chosen forests. No plan other than to create new work and photograph the results. I didn’t know what the final result was going to be. Members of the public may happen to come across my sculptures in the forests, but more by accident than design! Most of the work is in remote sections of the woodland and the sculptures are naturally camouflaged against the background of the forest, therefore not necessarily easy to locate. There hidden quality is something that I feel is integral to this aspect of my work. Most of the sculptural works will be left to disintegrate over the coming months. Should any prove to be ‘considered dangerous’ for either people or wildlife then they will be removed. The temporary nature of my sculptures is an important aspect of my experiences and understanding. I feel my sculptures are only really completed when nature begins to take hold again and gradually weave its way back into the materials. At this point it slowly becomes part of nature again and less a part of me.” It is a heartening and perhaps surprising fact that not one of his sculptures – 15 of the original 34 survive - has been in any way damaged by humans. Clearly the simple beauty of the structures brings out the best in people who visit the forests – the two other sculpture sights are in woodland at Villeneuve-Loubet and Mougins yet to be discovered or devoured by nature. Spencer settled in an enchanting maison du village in the La Colle with his wife Paula, a teacher at Mougins school, and their daughter Aalisha after a spell touring Europe to “wash our head out”, as he puts it. As they travelled they worked, creating art on the move, something of a troubadour of the plastic arts. The sculptor’s peregrinations may be more local these days, but the spirit of adventure remains strong. His next project PAPER LANDSCAPES will involve the construction of large paper sculpture installations in seven old buildings deep in the surrounding forests. Is Spencer planning to exploit his creations commercially? “I have been asked to create versions of the “Year in a French Forest” oeuvres for villa gardens, but I don’t want to get involved in that sort of relationship, the work would inevitably end up being compromised.” The last statement would sound precious coming from another mouth, but Spencer is just speaking a plain truth about the relationship between money and the sort of spontaneous art that he practices. Long may the imagination of this Banksy of the Forest run free in our forests. An exhibition of stunning photographs of Spencer’s A Year in a French runs from July 11th - August 16th at the Espace Rose de Mai in the centre of the old village of La Colle sur Loup. Photographs by Leo Fvy and Lionel Bouffier.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:21:35 +0000
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