About a year and a half ago a stranger, who is now my friend, created a sculpture in the woods.
As a memorial to his father, David Wilson began collecting sticks from all over Wildcat Canyon and assembled them in a sweeping vortex in the understory of a particularly spectacular stand of Coast Live Oaks.
A place that was already special became even more uniquely so. It's reminiscent of the work of Patrick Dougherty, but willfully more spastic and messy. Additionally, the sticks that comprise the work are from the forest itself, and thus the imported quality of material I find questionable of Dougherty's work is absent.
I have visited this place three times since it's creation, and it's aging splendidly- I actually prefer it looser and it wears wrinkles well. As entropy sets in, it looks more like a freak natural accident, perhaps the result of some unfathomable storm or bizarre set of events. But what I appreciate most about it is how anonymous it is. Though I wasn't present, there was some sort of initial show/debut of the work, but since that time it's been largely left alone. I imagine days and weeks go by where it doesn't have a single visitor. One sign still remains as an indicator of its purpose, but it doesn't really explain anything. The oak grove it lives in is off the beaten path and one would only come across it if they were hiking intentionally off trail. This I like- it's a secret spectacle.
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