Marcel Debord, Lou cabanou d'ou mounié/The cabin of the miller

all pictures courtesy of Thierry Bucquoy,

from his weblog *

Like the stories of so many outsider environments, what follows is a story of transcience.

Life and works

Written in Occitan, a language descendant of latin as spoken in the Roman empire and traditionally the language used in southern France, the name of this cabin refers to the former profession of its owner: operator of the mill of Rochevideau, a community located in a rural part of the Perigord

Having managed the mill for many years, Marcel Debord (1909-1994), in his early fifties got such problems with his legs that he had to decide to finish this job.

Beginning a new life, nearby the mill, around a small cabin he probably used as a workshop, he gradually covered the premises with a variety of decorative, mainly iron items and single-handedly made sculptures from concrete. 

The decorative items included horse hoes, all kinds of iron utensils and various other iron elements, like spoons and forks, decoratively attached to a concrete plate.

Debord made his sculptures from concrete, using molds. He would mainly depict small animals from the area where he grew up and where he lived, such as a snail, a pigeon, an owl, or a swan, as in the picture below. 

All together a bestiary of familiar animals...

Living alone, these small constructs may have been special to Debord. 

As Thierry Bucquoy in his blog says:

Les animaux poussent comme des fleurs

Il suffit de les arroser,

De les apprivoiser pour en faire des amis

Partenaire de sa solitude

The animals grow like flowers

Just sprinkle them,

Tame them, to turn them into friends

Partners of his solitude

But then Debord also has made a small number of sculptures of people, impersonations which also refer to his homeland , such as a peasant woman near a well, a fisherman, a hunter, a miller....

Debord may have been active in creating this environment for some thirty years. However, as far as I know, during his life he has got no publicity in France on a national level.

Bruno Montpied visited him in 1992, but (justly) hesitated to publish Debord's whereabouts, because of his poor health. Years later, in his Ëloge des jardins anarchiques (2011) the author has reported vividly about his visit to the site and his meeting with Debord.

Debord died in 1994 and following his death the site has been left uncared for. In 1999 a big storm, which struck down a lot of trees, has demolished most of the site too.

Documentation/more pictures
* Jean-Luc Thuilier, Arts et singuliers d'art en Périgord, Savignac-les-Églises (Ed. Gold), 2007
* Bruno Montpied, "Les cabanes du meunier Debord. Un jardinier d'outils", in: Éloge des jardins anarchiques, p. 87-93. Montreuil-sur-Bois  (l'Insomniaque), 2011
* Weblog "le blog de Thierry B."

Marcel Debord
Lou cabanou d'ou mounié
Rochevideau FR

site no longer extant

note

* Thierry Bucquoy and his partner Maryline live in Ligueux, in the Përigord area. Their garden Le jardin des délices, regularly houses art expositions. In his weblog Thierry writes about gardens, art, artists, and a variety of other subjects