Steve Hollinger
Born 1962, Greenwich, CT, lives and works in Boston, MA
Jellyfish, 2002, mixed media/responds to sunlight (solar cells, scrap copper and glass, mineral oil), Museum Purchase, 2003.53
Steve Hollinger creates light-activated mechanical sculptures using primarily found objects. In Jellyfish, his mixed media sculpture comprised of glass, copper, brass, thread, and capillary tubes uses a solar mechanism that responds to sunlight. As light reaches the sculpture, the mechanism turns on forcing the capillary tubes to move in a dance-like motion, causing the Jellyfish to rise and fall. While his sculptures are contemporary, the scientific mechanisms he uses are rooted in sixteenth-century mechanics. It’s not the complexity of the sculpture’s mechanics but rather the artist’s ability to create what appears to be a living, breathing entity that is most amazing. Hollinger believes that “…a sculpture can serve as a conduit between our physical world and the world of our emotions, our joy, desire, and despair.” This sculpture was purchased from The 2003 DeCordova Annual Exhibition.
