It takes more than just a superior design to make it to the final competition of the World Fire Sculpture Championship. It takes strength, stamina, and the willingness to brave a relentless Estonian blizzard. Electronic Media Professor David Hartz and the United States Fire Sculpture Team rose to the challenge and created a composition that won them the rare honor of competing in the ultimate round of the championship.
Professor Hartz and his teammates built a sculpture that experimented with fundamental geometric concepts. “Our design was based on a mathematical construct created by stacking 3D forms of a pentagon, then a square, then a triangle, then a plane that then ends in a point,” Professor Hartz noted. Developing an idea is the easy part: the challenge comes in building, and ultimately, setting the piece on fire. Professor Hartz recalled the trying circumstances that his team faced while building the work: “The first round of competition was very tough. We had to build and burn the sculpture in blizzard conditions. It was very brutal, but our gear worked well, and we were able to complete the sculpture in the allotted time.”
“The final round of competition was much easier,” he added. “We had two days to complete it instead of one day, and the weather was much milder.” The final results of the competition placed the Estonian team in third, the Latvian team in second, and the Lithuanian team in first. The talent of the other fire-sculptors amazed Professor Hartz: “I have many new ideas for future fire sculptures and can’t wait to test them out,” he explained. “I especially was fond of the Latvian team and their sculpture. Their team is called the Action Society.”
But the focus of the World Fire Sculpture Championship is not on the actual competition. Rather, it is oriented on the congregation of individuals who are passionate about an ancient and wonderful medium.
Regarding the experience, Professor Hartz said, “My favorite part was drinking Estonian beer with other fire artists throughout the world and trying to communicate with them. It is really amazing how similar artists are that share this discipline and how much we have in common.