March 12, 2010

PETER CAMANI

Peter Camani has spent nearly 30 years building his castle on 300 acres of farmland near Huntsville, Ont. He’s also been busy populating the site with sculptures formed out of concrete. Above, the Screaming Heads, some of the 85 similar pieces.

FEATURE | Concrete/Masonry

Artist transforms his land into a gallery of concrete sculptures

PETER KENTER

correspondent

About 50 kilometes north of Huntsville, Ont., Peter Camani is perfecting his castle — a real-life concrete structure the artist and sculptor has been working on for almost three decades.

The Midlothian Castle is located on a 300-acre farmstead in Burk’s Falls — along with a host of concrete structures that include 84 “Screaming Heads,” each more than six metres tall. Other sculptures: the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a two-headed dragon, an angel, a dam and an Enchanted Forest made of concrete trees.

Why concrete?

The medium defies environmental degradation and creates a near-permanent artistic statement. Sculptures of this size defy thieves and vandals who might seek to deface them.

More practically, concrete is also inexpensive and easy to work with. “It’s pretty much the cheapest material going,” says Camani, who has lived on the property since 1981. The castle is built around a once-derelict 1912 farmhouse.

“I once considered building a new house farther away from the road, but when these massive snowstorms hit, I’m happy to be close to the road,” he says. “Cement bags are delivered right to the back of the house, 15 tonnes at a time, and a nearby quarry supplies gravel. I get water from a spring that delivers through gravity feed. I occasionally have cement truck drivers coming by, offering to dump a load of extra material, but if I don’t have a standing form available I can’t use it.”

PETER CAMANI

His castle and front gate.

Camani lived first in one room, then slowly re-claimed the house. He’s achieved his skills in working with concrete through hard-won experience.

“You have an idea, visualize it and basically convince yourself you can do it — and then you do it,” he says. “Each of the ideas presents unusual challenges, but everything is extremely over-built.”

A series of castle towers is 40-feet high, built on a base of two-foot-thick steel-reinforced concrete. Camani raised the towers using a series of plywood forms locked together with nails and stovepipe wire.

“Initially, I used cheaper wood, but found that I got better results with forms that were built more solidly,” he says. “I would just build a section, then move up to the next one.”

Visitors are intrigued by a series of sculptures known as the Screaming Heads.

“There’s a lot of agony and sorrow in the world,” he notes. “Revolution in the Middle East and an earthquake in Japan. The Screaming Heads are screaming in anguish. I don’t think the world is full of smiley buttons.”

The sculptures are built using tilt-up construction techniques. Most of the sculptures weigh from 16 to 18 tonnes, with the largest weighing in at about 30 tonnes.

Facial features are delineated by openings in the concrete surface, so reinforcement of the concrete using rebar and screening is critical. Camani produced about 20 heads per year, then rented a crane and operator to move them into place.

“When the crane is lifting a sculpture, it tends to crack if it’s not reinforced,” he says. “I knew the operator would be careful. If you have a 16-tonne Screaming Head swinging from a hook, it has a lot of momentum and you don’t want that hitting the side of the crane.

“Of the 84 I’ve created, I’d say five have cracked because they were too thin or because they didn’t cure right.”

Although the artist charges no admission to see his sculptures, there’s a pail by the front gate where visitors can drop donations. Patrons can also incorporate their ashes into a Screaming Head sculpture for a donation of US$10,000.

“Why rest in peace?” asks Camani. “The Screaming Heads can represent a protest for whatever you wish.”

Camani says that he’s often asked why he’s doing it all.

“There’s really no reason to do it,” he says. “I have a master plan, but it’s constantly evolving — everything evolves.

“You decide to do it and then you put yourself into it. People think I’m a lot grander than I am, but sometimes I just think of myself as a hermit who pours cement.”

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