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The word from ... Greg Forrest

By Marla Cranston  
The Daily News 

Monuments fulfill a basic human need to immortalize
ourselves, and freeze certain moments in time forever.
Halifax sculptor Greg Forrest commemorates mythic
figure Keith Moons explosive outbursts in his new
work Heavy Metal, a drum kit strewn across the Art
Gallery of Nova Scotias education gallery, as Moons
kit would appear after a concert by The Who. The
seven-piece bronze captures the gesture as it was
when it was still pure, before it descended into mere
schtick, writes contemporary art curator Ray Cronin
in the show catalogue.

Dying young of alcohol abuse, Moon fits nicely with
the Greek cautionary tale about Icarus, who flew too
close to the sun and burned out. 

Im not doing this as a fan, really, says Forrest,
who worked on the piece during his fall stint as AGNS
artist-in-residence. I wanted to monumentalize chaos,
the act of wrecking instruments being both a creative
and destructive act at the same time. Its the
ultimate finale, and  not only did he destroy his
instruments, he eventually destroyed himself.

Why bronze: Like The Who, bronze is a classic, and a
bit of a dinosaur. The heavy metal fell into disuse
when modernist sculptors turned to more affordable
materials like steel and aluminum. The piece has a
nostalgic aspect, because rock culture was so unifying
in the 1960s but has since fragmented into more tribal
forms such as punk, metal, grunge, etc. 

Education: Forrest, 36, grew up in in London, Ont.,
and got his bachelor and Masters degrees at the Nova
Scotia College of Art and Design. He learned bronze
casting techniques last year at Vancouvers Capilano
College Art Institute. 

Music picks: A wide range of rock, jazz, reggae, rap
and country; lately The Strokes, The Beastie Boys, The
Velvet Underground, Bo Diddly and Gram Parsons. 

Reading: The portable New Yorker magazine; his last
book was In the Heart of the Sea, about The Essex, an
1840s Nantucket whaler sunk by a whale in the Pacific,
with the crew left adrift in lifeboats. 

On the tube: News, movies and lots of hockey. 

Latest project: A life-sized statue of the Stanley Cup
sitting atop a washing machine, which he hopes to cast
in bronze. 

Hobbies: The New York Times crossword is kind of a
drug. If Im stressed, it zones me out.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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