SPRING 2014 • FLOURISH 41
Junk to Cool
Artists and craftsmen give
a future to objects past their prime
"I
like the look of old stuff, and I like the idea of
saving things. An object made from something
else speaks to you," says Occidental artist Joe
Szuecs. Although he has worked with many ma-
terials, Szuecs, whose studio is in Sebastopol,
currently is using parts from old pianos to create robot sculp-
tures. "A piano's got a lot of cool stuff in it," he says, and he
sees wood, mechanisms and ivory as materials with potential.
When he looks at the components, he visualizes arms, legs and
other body parts, and those images guide him. "I let the materi-
als speak to me about what the possibilities are," he says. The
robots are a variety of sizes, ranging from 5 inches to 3 feet,
and he might get a dozen robots out of one piano. "I make a
bunch at a time," he says. "I try to make things that are kind of
cool."
The Salvation Army Family Store in Healdsburg is Szuecs'
source for pianos, because it has a forklift that can hoist them
into his truck, and people often call him to offer other things
by judith wilson
photos by stuart lirette
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Artist Joe Szuecs with a sculpture in his Sebastopol studio.
