Arthur Ganson
Born 1955, Hartford, CT, lives and works in Stoneham, MA
Two Cans from the Island of Taiwan, 1989, steel wire, springs, bird-song canisters, Museum Purchase with funds provided by friends and supporters of Arthur Ganson, 1993.4
Arthur Ganson creates inventive and often humorous mechanical sculptures. These machines twist and turn in myriad directions, bringing to mind the aesthetic concerns of the International Constructivists who, with their kinetic sculptures, worshipped the machine, and the Surrealists who promoted humor, chaos, and chance. On another level, Ganson’s sculptures celebrate simple, tin wind-up toys and elaborate model trains which power childhood fantasies, literally and figuratively.
Two Cans from the Island of Taiwan is a delightful marriage between art and science. Constructed out of steel wire, springs and bird-song canisters, a motor inside the cage activates the canisters, tipping them over, triggering the chirping sounds of a bird. While the bird is not seen, its implied presence is very real nonetheless. The artist not only teases the viewer with his virtual birdcage but with the pun in his title. This sculpture was purchased from the DeCordova exhibition Arthur Ganson: Diverse Machinery, 1992 – 1993.
