Still from ‘High Plains Drifter’
DAVID SHEPHERD
MY WORKING PRACTICE …………………………………………………………….
Re:The Autobiography of A Super-Tramp
Over a period of approximately thirty years I have developed a way of working that explores my constant fascination with materials, tools and the struggles and rigour of the labouring process.
After a conversation between Anthony Shapland and David Shepherd ………………….
In the film ‘High Plains Drifter’ Eastwood, the star and director, constructed a whole town to achieve the right camera angles for this enigmatic movie – a living set, ‘Lago’ was constructed by carpenters on the shore of Mono lake in the High Sierras of northern California. In the course of the film the town was painted red by its residents.
During the filming process part of this town seems to have been deconstructed and recycled to make tables and chairs for a welcoming party for the films returning saviour!
Some time after filming the town was raised to the ground and the area cleared. In this process of creation, re-purposing and destruction Shepherd sees a mirror of his practice. He regards himself as a sculptor in the classic mould; responding to a visual stimuli by producing a three- dimensional work in common materials. But his work is responsive and reactive, evolving to the point of collapse. He holds a fascination for the labour of making, the job of creating and often the ‘work’ that is implicit in the processes he uses becomes his subject. Often, the purposeful, rigorous and ordered way he sets about the tasks at hand seem to suggest he is working toward an end point, though over time it becomes clear that this endpoint is changing and mutable.
Anthony Shapland Co – Director G39 May 2012
DRIFTER HOUSE
