Blacksmiths Ian Gillies and Marc Fiset have a friendship forged by fire. When the two artists met several years ago, creative sparks flew and it wasn’t long before they started dreaming up collaborations. In the summer of 2021, they created and hosted the inaugural Burning Rock Festival on Fogo Island, bringing together artists of all types for two weeks of food, fun, creativity and inspiration.
It was at that event that they created their collaborative piece, a large fish, about 19 feet long, made of steel (much of which was recycled from the fishery). On the last day, they set it on fire.
Today, you can see that very same sculpture at The Wharf at Quidi Vidi Village. Titled “The Fishery,” it comments on an important part of the province’s history and culture. And as one of five pieces that’s part of the newly launched Quidi Vidi Art Search, it’s helping turn heads and attract even more visitors to the historic neighbourhood.
“I’m a big fan of public art. The arts in general kind of lifts society. When you see a well crafted piece of art, whether it’s a mural or a sculpture or whatever, it tends to lift your spirits,” says Mark Dobbin, Owner of The Wharf at Quidi Vidi, the community partner for the piece (Dobbin is also the Founder and President of Killick Capital and the Co-Chair of Business & Arts NL).
Dobbin first saw the piece as it was being finished at the Burning Rock Festival, acquired it, and stored it while The Wharf was under construction. The Quid Vidi Art Search presented the perfect opportunity to share it with the world.
“It’s a very unique venue, Quidi Vidi…the scenery is stunning, and I think it’s just the perfect backdrop for that sculpture,” he says, noting its placement at the site of a former fish plant.
“I think it fits. It feels like it belongs.”
We reached out to Ian and Marc to learn more about the process of creating this massive piece (and about the next Burning Rock Festival) and they were happy to fill us in, in true collaborative fashion.
Business & Arts NL: I understand this sculpture came about during the first Burning Rock Festival in Fogo in the summer of 2021. What was it like collaborating on this creation? Did your ideas click together well and did you both have a clear idea of what the final outcome would be?
Ian & Marc: Almost a year to the day before the first Burning Rock, we met and instantly agreed we could work well together. After some conversation and a bit of back and forth, we decided on a date for the Burning Rock Festival. We both agreed that we would make a final decision on our first collaboration during the opening day of Burning Rock 2021 – we were going to make on the day we got together, which was the first day of the festival. We both have the same, headstrong “keep moving forward” work ethic. We worked 12 to 16-hour days in the heat of summer to get the sculpture done in the two weeks we allotted ourselves and, in my opinion, it could not have gone any better.
Business & Arts NL: How long did it take you to complete the piece and how taxing was that work?
Ian & Marc: It would be hard to say in hours, but we worked every day for two weeks. At the start of the two-week period, we worked 16 hours a day, only stopping to eat. On the first day we actually had to build a large coal forge to accommodate the size of the materials we were working with. At the end of each day we collapsed from the effort but nearing the end of the two weeks, when we could see the end of the work and time frame, we settled down to as little as eight hours a day.
Business & Arts NL: Can you tell us a bit more about the significance of the material used for the sculpture?
Ian & Marc: A significant portion of the material for this sculpture was metal from an old fish plant. It was one of the determining factors in what we made and why. The sculpture is a large fish skeleton made from steel and when completed, we had a tractor lift the sculpture down to the shoreline across from Marc’s forge in Shoal Bay, (and) we draped the sculpture in a flammable white material, which we set on fire in a revealing blaze. The carbon from the fire and the salt spray did exactly what we wanted and that was to give it a dark, surface rust patina. The rust and skeleton represent the deteriorating fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, but the steel represents the enduring people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the enduring industry despite all of the setbacks.
Business & Arts NL: The placement of the sculpture at The Wharf in Quidi Vidi couldn’t be more perfect! What do you hope the piece will contribute to visitor’s experiences?
Ian & Marc: Quidi Vidi is a location that is visited by many Newfoundlanders and visiting tourists from away, but it is also a great example of an old fishing community. And having our sculpture on the wharf, right where old fish flakes would have been, could not be more ideal for what our sculpture represents, the old and the new. There is still a great sense of community there, from the old fishing industry to the newer arts, food/beverage and hiking. The whole community represents what all our outport communities could be by building on our history of the fishing industry, and we would like to think our sculpture represents that initiative and history.
Business & Arts NL: When is the Burning Rock Festival in Fogo happening this year, and can you give us a bit of a hint at what people can expect?
Ian & Marc: Burning Rock 2023 will happen from July 23 – July 29, with the 29th being a Saturday and the finale of the event. It is open to all artists of any medium through that period. We have had painters, sculptors, potters, musicians, chefs and more, and we expect much the same this year. We still do not know what we will be creating, which just makes it more interesting. There is no website, but we have started using the hashtag #BurningRock2023 and there is a Facebook event of the same name, Burning Rock 2023.
Stay tuned to our Spotlight on Partnerships blog as we highlight other Quidi Vidi Art Search artists and community partners in the months to come! (Click here to read our previous post about artist Julie Lewis and her piece “The Sugarloaf.”)
