The Challenge:

The revamping of a Land Rover Light-Weight by a master handcrafter, keeping the spirit of the constructor while creating a sculpture.

'I've once heard a friend introducing me as a "mechanicsculptor". Why not? It's an interesting short cut. Mechanics is remarkable in the sense that it has no state of mind, but still, it has a philosophy.
There is no good or bad mechanics. It works more or less or it doesn't, whether for a short or a long time. The deciding factor emerges from the choice of its creator; from the means accessible to him to the ones he decides to employ. Mechanics is a universal knowledge, even if cultural differences call for as many different options. Therefore, the realm of mechanics is linked to a philosophical concept. Like languages, music or any artistic expression, mechanics belongs to humanity's wellbeing and progress.

Sculptor? Yes, indeed. Still, I am aware that the meaning of this term has been altered through times and by diverse cultures, even within distinctive social layers. Personally, I consider sculpturing as an art with multidimensional means of expression. The intrusion of movement, and therefore of mechanics, gives spatial and temporal dimensions to the piece. Then sound knowledge and craftsmanship bring a cultural depth inherent to my own heritage. Most artistic endeavours possess these dimensions, but in this instance, the piece has to work as well.

The means useful to its implementation go from zero to infinite according to the referential in which its creator situates himself and places the piece. In my case, the chosen frame, or fundamental referential, would be similar to the one employed for the Cistercian Abbey of Thoronet: minimal means, and a deep understanding of the features that are roughly cut but finely adjusted, in which the master formula is Balance.'

Traduction : Corine Fegan