Return to the Future Past . . .

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Here are a few more photos from the same site that the photo currently entered in a contest was taken at (see below post, and please vote), out in a stretch of woods in northern France that not many people ever visit, where there are dozens of large sculptures carved in the stone of an old quarry, which date from the First World War. You can also see more pictures of this site here. Sadly, this little known site is out in a remote forest, exposed to the weather, and the magnificent artwork here is slowly but surely disappearing. I'm going back there tomorrow to make another series of photos to help document what's left. Wish you could come...
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Wirwignes : A Decorated Church . . .

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Just a couple of weeks ago Henk van Es, in Holland, who has created an excellent blog about outsider art sites around Europe, did a post about a church in northern France in the village of Wirwignes which had been intricately decorated by the parish priest, Paul-André Lecoutre from 1867 through his death in 1906. Henk's post about the church is here.
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As with many of the sites that Henk researches and writes about, I was considerably intrigued and desired to see the real thing, to find out what such a site might look like today. Checking the map, I realized that Wirwignes is just to the east of Boulogne-sur-Mer on the coast of the English Channel. As I had another mission I'd been meaning to accomplish in that immediate vicinity for some time, I realized that with a day trip two birds could be killed with one stone, if you will pardon that violent expression. The other mission was to find the grave of the ancestor of a friend in the WWI military cemetery at Etaples, which is just south of Boulogne.
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So I set out with a picnic lunch, and after visiting the military cemetery in Etaples, was in Wirwignes by mid-afternoon. The church was locked up tight, but a very nice lady in the town hall was willing to provide the key in return for my identity card. So I had the church all to myself that afternoon, and was able to discover first hand what had interested Henk enough to inspire his post about it. It was darker than I expected inside the church, and I was not properly equipped with tripod and external flash, so I had to make do with what little natural light there was, and the built in flash unit, which is a bit harsh and unforgiving at times. Hopefully the following photos will provide at least a small idea of what Father Lecoutre accomplished.
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Many thanks to you Henk, if you had not written about this unusual site, I probably would never have gone there.
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This first was on a wall in the village near the church, a type of sign one doesn't see many of in France any more, showing the two neighboring villages to Wirwignes and their distance.
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The exterior of the church, they obviously have a creative gardener even today . . .
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Apparently external chapels were added along the sides of the church by Father Lecoutre to accomodate his artwork . . .

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The WWI memorial outside the church, invoking God to protect France . . .

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Inside . . .
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There were some signs of wear and tear in places . . .
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A mosaic in the floor near the altar . . .
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Off the Wall ! (and On the Road. . .)

In any given day, probably only a relatively small number of people walk down the quiet back streets in Paris where I stumbled on these images the other day, when not looking for anything in particular. So I decided it was time for the three works of urban art shown here to come down off their walls and go on the road, to get out to see the world, and to be seen . . . by all of YOU good people. I have to admit, the second and third photo here made me think immediately of Theo Ellsworth's illustrations which you can see at Thought Cloud Factory News. His drawings are plenty of fun. (And sorry, no bikinis this time !)
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Totems . . .

Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest created totem poles, mysteriously magnificent homage to the natural world around them. Today we create other forms of totems. This totem in New Jersey, on Route 40, photographed in 1987 was prime black and white photo material. What do you make of it ? To honor what deity was this totem built ?
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Maison d'Eden . . . House of Happiness. . .

Just across the street from the "House of Chaos", Thierry Erhmann's neighbor, Marc Allardon, decided to fight back against the dark visions of Mr Erhmann by creating "La Maison d'Eden", a brightly colored collection of sculpture and painting in his yard and on the exterior wall around his property. If the theme of the "House of Chaos" is violence and brutal politics, the theme of the "House of Eden" is happiness and peace. In this first photo "la Demeure du Chaos" is visible in the background beyond the bright colors of the "Maison d'Eden". . . The town council of Saint Romain is trying to have this artwork abolished also. And again, my visit to these two sites last week in order to bring you these photos was entirely inspired by the Outsider Environments blog by Henk Van Es. (Thanks Henk !)

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House of Chaos. . .

Another site of interest in the Lyon area, and again visited thanks to the excellent blog on outsider art in Europe that Henk Van Es is assembling, is the "Demeure du Chaos", or the "Abode of Chaos" as the New York Times reported it. The house of chaos is a living work of art in progress, with currently in the neighborhood of 3000 individual paintings, sculptures, and other creations on the walls and in the large courtyard around the house which is located in the center of Saint Romain in the Monts d'Or area just north of Lyon. The driving force behind all of it is a artist named Thierry Erhmann. They get hundreds of visitors daily who come to witness the vast array of artwork covering nearly every available surface on the property. . . all of which are reflections of the violent, chaotic times we live in today.
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Not everyone is totally pleased with the dark and striking images visible from quite a distance ; the town council and mayor of Saint Romain have mounted a court battle to have the property restored to a "normal" appearance in keeping with their notions of propriety. Mr Erhmann maintains that his right to liberty of artistic expression should remain paramount over reactionary enforcement of urban codes. Some have compared the efforts to obtain the destruction of the "Abode of Chaos" to the Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas at Bamiyan. . . whatever your opinion, a visit to Saint Romain is provocative source of serious food for thought about our culture of violence and fear.

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Back to the Absurd !

Tidying up my desk this afternoon I came across two small booklets that had been buried for quite some time, both of them purchased a few years ago at Bertrand Chenu's Museum of the Absurd, near Cahors, France. I've said it before in these pages, but I'll say it again, le Petit Musée de l'Insolite, The Museum of the Absurd, is an absolute must to visit if you are going to be travelling in France. Bertrand Chenu is overflowing with imagination and contagious enthusiasm. . . I did this portrait of Bertrand in July, 1999.
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This was the view in the back garden at the Museum, an ancient car hiding in the wings, waiting to be transformed into another fabulous work of art. . .
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