Corner Brook man behind Mac the Moose weighs in on Canada-Norway sculpture uproar
Norway-Canada battle over big moose statues isn't 'exactly a high level of art criticism'
As Canada comes to grips with conceding the "world's biggest moose sculpture" crown to Norway, the man who created the (currently) second-place statue is at a loss for words at the international uproar.
"It is something, isn't it? I don't know quite what to make of it," laughed Don Foulds, a sculptor and recently retired Grenfell Campus fine arts professor in Corner Brook.
- Mac the Moose looks to reclaim world's largest moose title
- Artist behind World's Largest Moose weighs in on Canada-Norway moose debate
The City of Moose Jaw commissioned the young Foulds to create what would in 1984 become Mac the Moose, the Saskatchewan landmark that held the seldom-fact-checked title of world's largest moose until recently, when Norway erected its 30-centimetre-taller take on the animal.
Municipal outrage, American newspaper headlines and suggestions for impressive hats for Mac have ensued. All of it's a bit baffling to Foulds, who admitted he hasn't thought much about Mac lately.
"It isn't so much about the esthetic interests of the artwork. It's about the communities having a bit of a tussle with each other in a fun way, and drawing attention to both communities, so that's good," he told CBC.
The mega-sculpture scene
Mac wasn't Foulds' first, nor his last, mega-sculpture.
Fresh out of graduate school in Saskatoon in 1982, Foulds said he spent several lean years struggling to earn a living.
"Selling contemporary sculptures is a really hard slog, so I took on any kind of work that people would bring to me," he said.
When the little town of Kyle, Sask., came knocking with a request for a woolly mammoth replica made from a recently unearthed fossil, Foulds was happy for a paying gig. Other jobs followed, like a giant turtle named Ernie for the town of Turtleford, Sask.
It's a cartoony bit of roadside attraction, and it serves its purpose well.- Don Foulds
Then came the big ask from Moose Jaw.
"They said, 'What can you do for $12,000?' And I said, 'Well, I can do this.' And it got progressively bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger," Foulds recalled.
"I realized immediately that I wasn't going to make any money on it. It took up a lot of time, and used a lot of materials, and I made very little money."
Everyone's an art critic
Foulds carried on anyway, although he noted that the desire to go big on a small budget meant a lot of artistic compromise.
"There are esthetic concerns, but in some cases that gets diminished. That's OK. It's a cartoony bit of roadside attraction, and it serves its purpose well," he said.
Mac's recent turn in the international spotlight has made him a comedic target — Stephen Colbert called the moose "a papier mache dog" — but Foulds takes the jabs in stride, noting dryly that's "not exactly a high level of art criticism."
Foulds, who called the Norwegian sculpture "exquisitely crafted," said the two moose shouldn't be compared artistically against each other.
"In Canada, we struggle with funding for public art. In Norway, artists and public art are given a lot of support," he said.
While he doesn't know the price tag for the Norwegian moose, he estimated its casting alone would cost $1 million, an unheard-of sum for any similar Canadian commission.
"It would be a genuinely rare thing in Canada. Extremely rare. Most of the public funding for public art of any sort is very, very minimal. So I want to draw attention to that."
Furthering Fould's financial point: Moose Jaw's mayor has expressed interest in somehow making Mac taller, but has said any changes will have to come via donations, as opposed to taxpayer dollars.
A giant squid, and a hat for Mac?
Foulds has had one standout experience in creating giant sculptures that he said acts as a model for how such art should be done: a giant squid for the central Newfoundland community of Glover's Harbour.
He created that sculpture in partnership with the community and a local development corporation, and involved three of his Grenfell Campus students — all of whom were paid for their efforts — in its creation.
"Right from the word go, it was well done. They gave me lots of time and advance warning, they treated it professionally," said Foulds, adding that aside from its artistic merits, the squid has done its job as an attraction.
"A lot of people have commented to me how they've made the trip into Glovers Harbour and enjoyed it."
That sculpture was unveiled in 2004, and while it seems Foulds' days of outsized animals are over — "at this point in my life, I wouldn't do a moose sculpture" — he's happy Mac has continued to serve Moose Jaw's publicity purposes well.
However, as the municipality floats ways to reclaim the biggest moose title — everything from adding stilettos to a Stetson — Foulds points out that any alterations should probably be run past him.
"To be honest, I know the kinds of things they're thinking, and it's not a big deal," he said.
"But it's appropriate they approach the artist and ask for permission to make any changes, and make sure the changes are OK with the artist, because it will still be my name on it no matter what they do."
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