Scrapocaster cranks it up when the sun goes down
Art installation greets visitors to Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2023 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Guitars are a big thing at Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa.
None is larger than the event’s latest addition: the Scrapocaster, an eight-metre, 740-kilogram art installation shaped like an electric guitar built by Brandon’s Cary Clarke that’s been erected at the festival’s main gate, where it will welcome the crowd for Friday’s kickoff.
”It’s my baby, I guess,” Clarke said Thursday from his campsite overlooking Lake Minnedosa.
SUPPLIED
Brandon artist Cary Clarke next to his piece Scrapocaster, an eight-metre, 740-kilogram art installation shaped like an electric guitar that’s been erected at the Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa main gate.
“I approached (Rockin’ the Fields) a couple of years ago, (to say) maybe I could make something at the site, and it kind of migrated from there.”
Clarke, who grew up in Minnedosa — his family owns the land north of Minnedosa Beach the festival calls home every August long weekend — bounced ideas off friends until the idea of building a giant guitar on a stand was mentioned.
The Scrapocaster’s shell is a 6.7-metre steel form that Clark put together in his welding shop; the stand is made from pipe donated by Brandon’s Wesman Salvage.
It’s based on a Fender Squier electric guitar owned by one of Clarke’s friends and is a precise 7-to-1 scale model of the axe. Clarke measured the guitar, all its parts and the guitar stand to ensure the proportions were precise.
He called up musician friends — Clarke knows the bass almost as well as an arc welder — seeking old instruments that would make up the guitar’s guts and was quickly inundated with cymbals, saxophones, broken guitars and other instruments that were collecting dust.
Three saxophone bells serve as its volume knobs and 23 cymbals and three electric guitars make up its interior.
“I had 22 cymbals and there’s a tiny one from my son’s first drum kit,” he says.
Like most rock festivals, the Scrapocaster cranks it up when the sun goes down. It includes old trusses used for concert lighting, and additional lights that shine on the work make it glow bright red.
Clarke began the vast majority of the work on the project on May 31 and all the long hours in the shop came to fruition when it was trucked to the Rockin’ the Fields site and lifted on its stand.
“It’s been a lot of early mornings and late nights, but I’ve been sleeping in since I got to Minnedosa,” he says.
SUPPLIED
The Scrapocaster, an eight-metre, 740-kilogram art installation shaped like an electric guitar that’s been erected at the Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa main gate, lit up at night.
Scrapocaster is already a hit on social media. Rockin’ the Fields posted several photographs of it on its Facebook site on the eve of the festival, which features more than a dozen acts, including Big Sugar, the Sheepdogs, Lou Gramm, the Glorious Sons, L.A. Guns and Aldo Nova Friday though Sunday.
Many commenters gave props to Clarke, who has attended the event every year since it began as Classic Rock Weekend ‘96, 27 years ago.
The giant guitar won’t be a permanent addition to the Rockin’ the Fields site. Clarke says he has a place to store it in the winter and it will return in future years.
“The elements would eat away at all the parts pretty quickly,” he says. “There’s also a lot of snowmobiles in the winter and there are guitars (in the installation). We want to keep people from climbing on it.”
Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com
Twitter: @AlanDSmall
Alan Small
Reporter
Alan Small was a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the last being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Alan Small
Reporter
Alan Small was a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the last being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
