The Mount Royal Series

In the summer of 2006 I began to take long walks along the many meandering foot paths carved out of the hillside of Mount Royal in Montreal. After venturing out a number of times I came upon a small out-of-the-way hollow under an oak tree towering tall against the side of the mountain near the summit. It is one of those spots on the planet where work just seems to happen. I returned often during the course of the next two summers and autumns making use of the endless supply of stones and dead branches to produce the series you see here.
I brought the series to an end when, after completing the last one, Tree-tied, I discovered that the park authorities were systematically dismantling any and all such installations as I and others, as it happened, were creating. Which explained why they seemed to disappear so quickly after I made them. I can't say that I blame them but as I created form from the random distribution of the stones on the ground the Mount Royal Eco-Patrol set out to return the spot to a "natural" state of random disorder. It seems somehow ironic.

 The Mount Royal Eco-Patrol at work.