Artist Maskull Lasserre has said he never makes anything he readily understands.
So when Lasserre was asked to talk about creating what many believe to be the world's largest acoustic anvil, his answer was thoughtful and, perhaps, slightly uncertain.
"It's an artifact of some imagined civilization where these things, I guess, were made and used," the artist told the 91原创 Advance Times, following the official unveiling of the anvil outside its new home at the in Fort 91原创 on Saturday, June 15.
Originally built in 2018 for the Vancouver Biennale, a bi-annual public art exhibition, Lasserre titled the piece 'Acoustic Anvil: A Small Weight to Forge the Sea'
At 25 feet long, 13 feet tall and nine feet wide, weighing 14,000 pounds, the anvil has a small musical shape resembling a violin鈥檚 f-hole, cut in the side, originally used to play sounds of the ocean from inside the hollow shape.
"Now it's silent but it's there for whoever looks at it to imagine," Lasserre commented, calling it a "hybrid of brute force and refinement."
"I think it reveals something about both strength and fragility," he remarked.
"Hopefully, its recognized as more than just a really big anvil."
Lasserre's creations have been shown in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Mus茅e National des Beaux-arts du Qu茅bec and the Canadian War Museum.
He said it is the first time one of his works has become part of a farm museum.
It was moved into place on March 13 by employees of George Third and Sons, the Burnaby steel fabricators who built the anvil for Lasserre and were looking to find it a new home.
Its official unveiling was delayed in the hopes of holding it in better weather, following a repainting and the addition of a plaque.
On the actual day, however, so much rain was coming down that the wet conditions forced the event indoors, until a brief break in the downpour allowed participants time to go outside, long enough to do the honours.
It was still a pretty good day as far museum volunteer and board of directors member Syd Pickerell was concerned.
Pickerell, master of ceremonies, praised the artist, and Rob Third of George Third and Sons for making it possible, with the builders handling the move and donating paint to change it from a "sort of a rust color."
Township councillor Michael Pratt said he's been boasting about the project to politicians in other communities
"I say well you might have a couple of SkyTrain lines. You might have a couple of tall towers. You don't have the world's largest forged anvil," Pratt remarked.
MP Tako van Popta viewed the anvil as an appropriate addition to the museum.
"Agriculture continues to be a very, very important part of our economy, of our culture, and what makes [91原创] such a great place to live," van Popta said.
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