Hasta La Ideas

Created some two generations ago, in the heady pre-hyperlapse days, the Eames’ Powers of Ten remains as relevant today as ever before. While the short film makes for an unlikely (or at least hyperbolic) comparison to the work of snow artist Simon Beck, the very concept of scale is precisely why both the film and the large-scale drawings are compelling and accessible to a broad audience.

Having previously seen Beck’s work when it made rounds last year, I was interested to have the opportunity to interview him on the occasion of the launch of Icebreaker’s inaugural artist collaboration, for which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Protect Our Winters (a non-profit organization for climate change awareness). Commissioned by the apparel company, Beck’s interpretation of a ram’s horn—a reference to merino wool—features prominently among the geometric artwork that has been printed on the pieces in the new collection.

Over the past decade, Beck has all but perfected his technique of ‘drawing’ on snow and has recently expanded his enterprise to include works on sand as well; he employs snowshoes to achieve a kind of stippling effect on the former surface and a rake to etch lines in the latter. His only other tools are an orienteering compass and a string-and-anchor to demarcate the ‘skeleton’ of the piece relative to the center point or vertices. As for the content itself—canonical fractals and patterns of his own design, but sometimes cartoons by request—Beck goes by a thumbnail sketch and gut instinct, rarely drawing out the entire piece beforehand, because (as he dryly notes) “it’s too time consuming.”

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