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Solid Oak

Simon Lee 1991

In 1991, Simon Lee returned some wood back to the forest with 'Solid Oak', attaching countless chairs to a patch of trees in the High Bowkerstead area. Here is what he said about the work:

"Solid Oak juxtaposes two materials - the processed end product of the forest with the living trees. Part of Grizedale's beauty comes from it being a working forest, planted and harvested by man. It is a beauty created by the tension of two circumstances, the complex rhythm of the forest, and our equally complex manipulation of them.

I returned the chairs to the forest because they are a mirror and a support to the human form and can be seen as caricatures of it. The trees are young and will continue growing, shedding their leaves and branches over the years. The chairs will also fall piece by piece to the ground, changing the patterns imposed upon them, and becoming once again a part of the undergrowth that regenerates the forest."

That cycle isn't too far from completion; the sculpture is still visible, but a lot of the chairs have rotted and fallen apart. Soon, Lee's job will be done.

Photograph taken from 'Natural Order'

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