Diseased Cottonwoods live on as sculpture

July 26, 2011 6:37 PM

bringing some beauty to the sad loss of trees with a chainsaw competition Some pretty cool detail and creativity to be had from such a crude tool. I wouldn't be suprised to find the prize money to be a savings from the cost of having the trees cut down and hauled off, too....

Some other chainsaw carving, previously on the Blue

Competition chainsaw carving, the speed version

posted by Redhush (22 comments total)

Maybe try again another time, without the editorialising.
posted by wilful at 6:43 PM on July 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

Maybe try flagging and moving on.
posted by found missing at 6:48 PM on July 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

Maybe try linking t a blog that knows how to rotate pictures before posting them?
posted by splatta at 6:54 PM on July 26, 2011

Well, this is going well....
posted by tomswift at 6:55 PM on July 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

Crying eagles, gnomes, and kids in firemen's hats as far as the eye can see. I'm thinking chainsaw carving is so entirely made up of godawful kitsch that it's past due for a resignifying: some canny art student should be getting in on the form, doing "transgressive" chainsaw sculptures and getting kicked out of competitions, Borat-style, to build a buzz.
posted by RogerB at 6:55 PM on July 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Evidently this is an annual event; see here. some of those are pretty cool.
posted by TedW at 7:00 PM on July 26, 2011

This is pretty awesome work and I was glad to see that these trees had to go anyhow due to disease. Kind of reminds me of the time my painting prof suggested we invest in really wide brushes (~2") because once you practice, you can do very fine lines with a wide brush, but a narrow brush won't ever give you the wide stroke.

Slightly off-topic, I remember driving from SF to Humboldt State back in the day, there was a road sign, in the shape of a bear, I believe, for a business called Carving for Christ. It's not there anymore, but it was one of the landmarks of that trip up 101!
posted by smirkette at 7:03 PM on July 26, 2011

Also, my parents used to joke that they were going to get a burl yeti sculpture for the front yard just to piss of the neighbors. [which is funny because they're usually not like that all]
posted by smirkette at 7:06 PM on July 26, 2011

Like the carving? Get the t-shirt.
posted by arcticseal at 7:06 PM on July 26, 2011

a road sign, in the shape of a bear, I believe, for a business called Carving for Christ.

I haven't driven that stretch of 101 in a few years but I hope it's still there. That and the freakish bears at Confusion Hill.
posted by not_the_water at 7:08 PM on July 26, 2011

I thought this was about cool chainsaws that looked more beautiful than trees. This is just more glorification of wood instead of steel.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:15 PM on July 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's cute idea. Public art out of an unfortunate event. I wonder if they submitted a sketch before carving into the wood?
posted by dibblda at 7:23 PM on July 26, 2011

The idea of carving the stumps is beautiful in its simplicity. This Denver Post article has some more details.
posted by angrybeaver at 7:25 PM on July 26, 2011

And more pictures, properly rotated.
posted by angrybeaver at 7:28 PM on July 26, 2011

I think that I shall never see
A chainsaw lovely as a tree.
posted by loquacious at 7:34 PM on July 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

The 12th Annual Whittle the Wood competition was this past June 18th.
posted by angrybeaver at 7:38 PM on July 26, 2011

Whoa, such negativity! I feel like this is actually a lovely way to gain something or memorialize the dying cottonwoods, instead of just chopping them down and hauling them off.
posted by troublewithwolves at 8:02 PM on July 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Similarly, see the trees in Galveston killed by Hurricane Ike that were carved into art.
posted by Robert Angelo at 8:17 PM on July 26, 2011

Crude tool? Isn't that how they make gorgeous ice sculptures, too?
posted by ostranenie at 4:46 AM on July 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Describing the loss of trees as 'sad' or the concept of the chainsaw as a 'crude tool' is not editorializing. Broadly describing the commentators of a large public blog as 'whinging cunts' would be editorializing. You know, for example.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:39 AM on July 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Describing the loss of trees as 'sad' or the concept of the chainsaw as a 'crude tool' is not editorializing.

Yes, it is. Unless you assume everyone shares your preference for trees over chainsaws.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:43 PM on July 27, 2011

I don't prefer trees over chainsaws. They go together. Like, y'know, rats and the plague!
posted by Redhush at 8:18 PM on July 27, 2011