Rock stars: stone-stacking champions bring gravity-defying sculptures to a Scottish beach
‘[It’s] the most ancient art form that there is’
Sculpture artists gathered in Scotland on Sunday to compete for the weighty title of champion stone stacker, in a quirky competition launched last year.
More than 30 participants from America, Spain, Italy and from around Britain converged on Dunbar, near Edinburgh, for only the second European Stone Stacking Championships.
Page, the fledgling contest’s founder.
Despite stone stacking’s lofty history, he traces the modern-day challenge to the creations of Californian stacker Bill Dan in the early 1990s.
Stone stacking however has angered some conservationists who accuse enthusiasts of “rubbing out history” by removing rocks from ancient neolithic monuments, such as Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, southwest England.
Page launched the contest last year after organising a more local event – the John Muir challenge – in 2016, which was billed as the first stone stacking competition of its kind in Britain.