BEAVER LODGE – reconstruction of the deconstructed construction

BEAVER LODGE….

A pyramid made of branches acquired second-hand from an abandoned beaver lodge… Cemented with mud, stones, sod…the cone shape protrudes from below the water’s surface… It resembles a dome… when the temperature drops below zero, steam is seen to rise. Beavers often use second-hand materials: bits of planks, rubble, plastic, bricks, porcelain, animal skulls. The Interior: corridors, vestibules, residential chambers, nesting chambers, vents. The abandoned lodge has collapsed… the branches and boughs on either side have pointed ends – the tooth marks recall the traces of a chisel – smooth, “blanched” by the water. This film documents the reconstruction of a beaver lodge, modelled on military reconstructions; the village inhabitants and their German guests build a lodge using branches from long-abandoned beaver “fortresses.”

The construction of a pyramid with materials used by beavers for building lodges in Masuria

multivocal pyramid
human vs animal recycling – barter
animal-human exchange of inventions
Polish-German coexistence – common land
reconstruction of a deconstructed construction
human reenactment of an animal construction
nature’s neutrality
eco architecture
cosmic impactite architecture
totemic installation
pagan/secular temple
wooden stronghold
stockade – palisade beaver made
WWI & WWII monument: beaver stocks & timber palisade/stockade
inside-out pyramid
open form (the audience imagines the inside)