Take Five: Artist Creates Intricate Designs in Fresh Snow by Walking
There are artists who carve in both ice and snow, creating life size sculptures of celebrities, landmarks or icons that reflect upon our society and culture, leaving viewers astounded as to how a temporary material that is subjected to weather variants can be molded into a masterpiece. But one artist takes the meaning of snow art to a whole new level by trudging through the fluffy white flakes in snowshoes for miles (sometimes amounting to ten hours of work — a good exercise form for those looking for winter activities), all while leaving behind carefully conceptualized and illustrious designs that can only be seen from a distance or bird’s eye view.
Well-aware of the fact that his art is temporary, Simon Beck, in an attempt to capture the beauty of his creations as well as in an effort of sharing it with the world, encapsulates the intricately detailed patterns via photographs, which he then uploads to his Facebook page. Of course, making art in fresh snow doesn’t come without its problems. For instance, according to Beck, sometimes, his work is interrupted by recent snowfall, which leaves him with a brand new canvas, causing him to either redesign the already started piece or to design a different one from scratch. And while his works currently can only be seen in the Les Arcs Ski Resort in France or online, the England-based artist hopes to not only publish a coffee table book full of his pieces (surrounded by equally beautiful landmarks), but also dreams of taking his artwork on a global journey.
Taking a moment away from his snow art, Beck spoke to GALO about his works being compared to crop circles, his dream locations for his artwork, and why he hasn’t pursued making portraits.
GALO: To create the snow art, you trudge around in snowshoes, creating elaborate works. When did you initially come up with this idea and do you remember what your first design was? Have you considered taking it a step further and creating portraits or illustration-like pieces?
Simon Beck: It just seemed [like] a good idea to make a drawing in the snow. It was a five-pointed star, but geometric designs seem to work best. I have not attempted portraits. It is just too difficult to get the greyscale correct, and it looks different according to the direction of the light.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
GALO: You mentioned that you wouldn’t have gotten into this art form if it weren’t for photography. Does the temporary nature of your artwork cause some disappointment for you, especially since it takes you eight to ten hours to construct one piece and it can easily be blown away by wind or covered by new snowfall the very next day? Or do you find that most things in life are temporary, like a beautifully cooked and prepared dinner, and you feel joy for crafting something that one can give back to nature and touch people with worldwide?
SB: To my mind, the photo is the artwork and the snow is a way to create the artwork. For one thing, there are only a limited amount of good locations to do this stuff, and if nature didn’t remove them, one would have to travel even further to find locations to make these things. Provided I get good photos, I am satisfied.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
GALO: Apart from the temporary nature of your pieces, what difficulties do you encounter when you’re transferring these designs from paper to snow (concept to creation)? I imagine that one not only has to be good in math but also have strong physical stamina to create these vast works.
SB: The stamina is essential; the other skills are those that I learned through being an orienteering expert: surveying, using compasses, and distance determination by pace counting. Mistakes do get made sometimes, but, usually, they still look good, despite the mistakes. Sometimes, I modify the design so that it looks like it was meant to be that way in the first place.
The most common reason for failure, to get the photo, is cloudy weather the day after the drawing was made. So, it is a weather forecasting difficulty. Other problems [stem from] skiers and walkers sometimes tracking the site, the sites already having a drawing on them, and there not being enough new snow to completely cover up the previous drawing. Also, sometimes one can mistake a post or other object in the distance for one’s own markers and start walking in the wrong direction.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
GALO: Many compare your designs to that of crop circles. Have you yourself thought about embracing this artistic activity, perhaps in the warmer months when snow is not available as a canvas for your creations?
SB: I would consider crop art with permission of the farmer. What I really want to do is learn to drive a combine harvester and use THAT to make designs during the harvest.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
GALO: Currently, you make these designs in France. Have you considered taking them on a journey to other countries in Europe during the winter or other dream locations?
SB: My dream locations would be: the Buckingham Palace Gardens, the White House lawn, Central Park in NYC, Cordillera del Paine, Yosemite National Park, Matterhorn, and soccer stadiums, among others. The reason is amazing surroundings or a famous location. There might be the combination of nature and one of my drawings, or a great work of man and one of the drawings. [Currently], I am waiting for an invitation, and then we shall see!
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Photo Credit: Simon Beck.
Video courtesy of: Simon Beck/Grandvalira Andorra.
For more information about Simon Beck’s art, including more photographs, please visit his Facebook page.
