By EMILY GEDDE
Several years after a “Simply North” story told the history of a northern Minnesota monument, the request for copies still frequently surfaces.
In 2011, former Journal reporter Liala Helal made the about 40-mile drive to Birchdale to capture the story of Basshenge and interview the artist, Joseph Guastafeste, responsible for the structure.
“That was so long ago,” Helal said this week when asked about her experience writing the story.
“That was one of my favorite stories to write.”
Basshenge is an unmarked sculpture grouping 21 steel monoliths, which sits on property Guastafeste and his wife donated to the project. Shaped of the string bass and arranged in the configuration of a bass clef, it was built to model Stonehenge, but not to necessarily be noticed.
Helal remember spending a considerable amount of time with Guastafeste as he told the story of how Basshenge came to be, before accompanying the reporter to the field where it sits. Helal recalls watching the artist as he talked about his work.
“He was glowing with pride,” she said. “I remember there were so many intriguing aspects of his artwork, it was hard to make my story concise.”
The Journal staff felt because inquiries are still frequent about the history behind Basshenge, that in light of its nearly-17th anniversary of completion on July 4, it was time to re-share the story of the sculpture and how it came to sit in a field just off Highway 11 along Rainy River near Birchdale.
What is Basshenge?
Basshenge consists of nine groups of two instruments, standing six feet high, linked by musical staffs and circled around three larger sculptures of bass instruments, which stand 10 feet high. On the staffs hang musical notations and images recalling the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Cardinal and Theological Virtues.
On purpose, Guastafeste never displayed a sign to explain any of it.
“The purpose was just to build what I imagined to be something cool,” he said i 2011. “I don’t want to make a public thing out of it. I want it to naturally be here, and if people see it, they can stop and take a look.”
The vision first surfaced when Guastafeste and his wife, Bronte Jornod — both artists — were living in Chicago and watched a video on Stonehenge. It was Jornod who nudged her husband and suggested Basshenge.
With the thought etched in his mind, Guastafeste said he knew he had to make the idea a reality.
Bringing Basshenge to life
The journey to create the 93-foot spiral with 21 columns supporting steel sculptures shaped like basses was a fun one, Guastafeste said during the 2011 interview with Helal.
At first, he wanted World War II metal basses, used as sturdy and portable instruments on boats during wartime for the project. After placing ads in several magazines, someone called with one for $2,000.
The price tag was too high and Guastafeste contacted the Interlochen Academy, a music camp in Michigan, and got a metal bass that wasn’t being used. The search for more metal pieces continued.
At the time, Guastafeste was directing and playing in a concert and was in search of a violin. Richard Hunt, a well known artist, agreed to sculpt one at the last minute. The finish product amazed Guastafeste.
That was the starting point of the Basshenge sculptures. Another artist, Matthew Owens, joined Guastafeste and Hunt in creating the three larger bass instruments. They’re arranged in place of the geographical direction of the home state of each artist.
Local impact
Using photos as a guide, Leland Nelson, a welder from Birchdale, cut the instruments from steel. He warned Guastafeste he works with regular steel — not stainless — and feared it would rust.
“I thought, ‘That’s perfect,’” he said. “I want it to rust and look natural.”
Other local experts were also used in the project.
Eugene Mollberg, a Baudette-based cement contractor, created the concrete footings for the monoliths, which required digging holes nine feet deep, below the freeze line.
“We dug holes in the middle of spring and it was the wettest spring we had in years,” Guastafeste recalled of the weather 17 years ago. “The field was flooded and bogged down in water.”
The cement truck couldn’t make it into the lot without getting stuck, so workers hired by Guastafeste pushed wheelbarrows of cement and poured it into the holes.
“They did an enormous amount of work,” Guastafeste said. “I was very happy with the way it turned out. This would never have been successful if it wasn’t somewhere like this. New York or Chicago – this would never happen.”
Official completion
Basshenge was officially completed July 4, 2001, earning it a spot in Birchdale’s Fourth of July festivities that summer. Everyone involved helped complete the project, costing about $25,000, in less than a year.
Some told Guastafeste, now 88, he was crazy to spend so much money and do so much work for something people might see, but he sees it differently.
“I couldn’t have spent the money any better,” he said. “I love sculpture.”
And while some suggested he make it more visible as grass continued to grow around the sculptures, Guastafeste said it is taking shape just how he originally pictured it — rust and all.
“It will be here long after my child and grandchildren are underground,” he said. “Nothing will wreck this — I made sure of it.”
This story includes contributions from the story written by Liala Helal and published in the Fall 2011 edition of “Simply North.”
