A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #3: July '07 - Cont'd
Val Bertoia: Alloy and Metaphor
Artist Val Bertoia and a Gong used
for his Sonambient sound art
Photograph by Dan Leathersich
Val began to work seriously on this now substantial body of work in 1972 collaborating with his late father, Harry Bertoia (of the Bertoia/Knoll Chair fame) and he continues to selflessly teach and maintain his father’s legacy today. It was during the early seventies that Val and his father developed the Sonambient™ line of sound sculptures. Each piece is a physical tool to express ethereal sounds, mounds of metal articulating abstract thoughts in a non-objective, highly sensitive way. The sculptures are composed of vertical metal rods of various gages and alloys, cantilevered and soldered with silver to brass plates. The finished works are played by a standing performer who clangs, pushes or brushes the rods, causing the vibrations and sway of the metals to create tones.
On an old Pennsylvania farm, Val performs an ethereal sound chorus using instruments of copper, steel and bronze alloys. Normally, when an alloy is made, two or more metallic elements intermix, and usually the purity of a metal will deteriorate, or cheapen. For him, the intermixing of two or more parts means not losing quality, but rather gaining interconnectivity. Val’s blending of opposites creates harmony, and from this blending of opposites emerge statements and images of oddly calming unity.
Gong Pedestal by Val Bertoia
Photograph by Dan Leathersich
The climax of the trip is Val’s very reverent playing of the Sonambient sculptures in the sounding barn. The fifteen-minute performance is held in a simply renovated barn where visitors sit facing an orchestra of artfully positioned brass, bronze, copper, silver and steel. The audience rests in classic Bertoia chairs, facing a nearly dark installation which, according to Val, is the best way to really integrate the experience. The sounds that came from the metal begin as recognizable tings, dings and reverberations. As more sounds are added, the tones begin to move from single instruments into a powerful sonic alloy of hums, vibrations and echoes that become reverberate like an ancient chant. In their time together, Val and Harry Bertoia created over 360 recordings in the ever-evolving sound barn.
“The sounds and forms all came together as the most phenomenal metallic expression of man this human-world has known,” adds Val.
Resources:
To arrange a tour or purchase recordings of Val Bertoia's performances, call (610) 845-7096 or visit the Bertoia Studio.
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Mark Oberkirsch and the Art of Copper Repoussé
Poppies, Copper Tooled Art by
Mark Oberkirsch
Photograph courtesy of Mark Oberkirsch
Since he was a young child, this Missouri-based artist has always been interested in the arts, but focused on metalsmithing as a young adult, when he apprenticed as a metalworker with two St. Louis sculptors. Here, he eventually became involved in copper, and although he never formally studied copper crafts, he chose this unique medium as the basis for his art.
“I don’t know why I chose copper, maybe it was the color and the malleability,” says Oberkirsch. “You can do so much with copper as opposed to other materials. It can be sculpted, it can be flat work; it’s kind of limitless what you can do with it. It just had a lot of opportunity. I think most artists find a medium that they just love. I run into very few artists that change mediums.”
Once he established his medium, he was open to finding his form. He stumbled onto the Arts and Crafts phenomenon after being invited to exhibit at the first annual Arts and Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn, an event now in its 21st year and renowned for its education of collectors.
“I’m quite fond of the Arts and Crafts look," says Oberkirsch. "I love that personally, so I’ve tried to contribute. I saw an opportunity to be creative in Arts and Crafts shortly after I got involved in it as a collector.”
In 1995, at the height of the Arts and Crafts revival, he came up with his own line, featuring a unique style.
“I do a simple version of repoussé. I’m not doing a lot burnishing to create a sculptural look, I’m just using shading and perspective,” he adds.
Rocky Shores, Copper Tooled Art by
Mark Oberkirsch
Photograph courtesy of Mark Oberkirsch
“The Arts and Craft movement called it tooled copper,” adds Oberkirsch. “They did a lot of hammered copper, copper trays and candlesticks—mostly useful things. If you took a hammer to a piece of metal, it would have even dimples in middle, plus some repousse, but most of it was artistically functional.”
Oberkirsch’s flatwork is designed to complement the practical furniture and lighting that are the hallmark of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic. His images of trees, peacocks and poppies might hang next to a Morris chair or a classic Stickley cabinet. His frames are works of art in themselves, sometimes featuring a narrow shelf at the top and always created to be in harmony with the classic lines of Arts and Crafts.
His wife, Jean, a fellow copper artist, leans more toward a southwestern style. In fact, that style (despite their respect for the Arts and Crafts movement) is the focus of several upcoming shows this summer in Chicago, Breckenridge and Crested Butte Colorado.
“We collaborate on most things, we ask each other’s advice and sometimes argue, but we get the job done,” says Oberkirsch. “Jean has a good eye for color.”
Resources:
Artist Mark Oberkirsch is based in Hillsboro, Missouri. E-mail him at mark@tooledcopperart.com.
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Copper in the Arts: EVENTS
- Palm Beach Jewelry, Art, and Antique Show
Feb 15, '13 - Feb 18, '13 - Native Expressions: Dave McGary’s Bronze Realism
Mar 7, '13 - Jun 30, '13 - Evolving Character Head Demonstration with John Coleman
Mar 9, '13 - Mar 9, '13 - More Upcoming Events...
Copper in the Arts: HISTORY
Ellis Island Restoration Gives New Life to Ferry Building's Cupola Sculpture
Recently restored Ferry Building, Ellis Island
Photograph by Valerie Loiseleux
In the 1950s, part of the island known as the Ferry Building that was the first step on American soil for immigrants in the early 1900s was closed to the public, but has since received a second chance. After more than 50 years, the Ferry Building has reopened thanks to a $6.4 million renovation project. Visitors can once again stroll this majestic site to see the Art Deco restorations, including a facelift of the beautifully restored copper cupola and eagle sculpture that greeted over 12 million immigrants coming to America.
“We assumed that they were lead coated copper, however, I have a copy of the original drawing of the cupola and it indicates that they’re actually cast lead,” says Don Fiorino, Supervising Architect for the National Park Service, in New York. “The cupola was restored in two phases—the lower portion that has the chevrons were replaced entirely with Revere Copper, Freedom Gray, a zinc-coated copper in lieu of lead because the park was trying to go lead-free environmentally. The upper cap was done later on and we salvaged the existing ornamental fluted band that was on the upper top. The existing cap had deteriorated severely and was one of the reasons water dripped into the building. When we replaced the cap we salvaged the existing ornamental band and attached it to the new cap, therefore retaining some of the historic fabric.”
Detail of Ferry Building Cupola
Photograph by Valerie Loiseleux
“We assumed the eagles were lead coated copper but looking at old copies it says that the tower base is noted to be lead plates,” he explains. “We removed whatever remained and replaced it with zinc-coated , Freedom Gray copper. There is one eagle in each corner, and they are hollow, not solid. Since the balance of the material is lead coated copper, it leads us to believe that they are, in fact, lead coated copper as well. There was no major repair work performed on the eagles, so we did not have the need to cut it open to examine the material. The Public Works Administration created the cupola and building, and the drawings were prepared with Lewis A. Simon acting as Supervising Architect as well as Chester H. Aldrich, the original architect. On his sketches it says that the eagles are approximately 4’8 and located on the four corners of the cupola.”
The building was started in 1934 and completed in 1936. Restorations were done in two phases, with one in 2001, and another and phase in 2004.
Resources:
For more information about Ellis Island, call the National Parks and Services at (212) 363-3206.
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Copper in the Arts: NEWS
Carnegie Museum of Natural History Reopens Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems - July 15, 2007
The Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, part of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, re-opened last month after undergoing an ambitious renovation project. Hillman Hall was temporarily closed in early 2006, and the majority of the collection was taken off of public view. During that time, the entire hall underwent a major facelift, and now features new display cases and specimens, improved lighting, and a dramatic entranceway showcasing the museum’s breathtaking selection of minerals.
“The new entrance to Hillman Hall gives visitors a sense of what they will encounter once they are inside the hall,” says Marc Wilson, Section Head of Minerals.
Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems has always been one of the museum’s most popular and important halls. “It is very exciting to see the specimens in a new light,” said Dave Smith, interim co-director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “I believe visitors who have loved Hillman Hall for years will be pleasantly surprised by what they encounter once it reopens."
While Hillman Hall was closed, the museum acquired numerous minerals and gems that are now on display now, including pieces from the Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia Collection. The acquisition of minerals from this historical collection, coupled with the museum’s own collection, make the museum home to the world’s most important collection of Pennsylvania minerals.
Other fascinating pieces in the collection include the breathtaking City in the Clouds, a cluster of gemmy tourmaline crystals of watermelon-colored spikes protruding like skyscrapers, and the 2,200-pound glacial nugget of native float copper discovered south of Houghton, Michigan. Called ‘float’ copper due to its occurrence in glacial gravels once referred to as ‘glacial floats,’ this rare form of native copper is even more unusual because of its immense size.
Part of the renovation project of Hillman Hall includes the creation of the Wertz Gallery of Gems and Jewelry, which will focus on gems, the crystals they come from and jewelry comprised of precious stones. Wertz Gallery, named in honor of Ronald W. Wertz, longtime president of the Hillman Foundation, will open in September.
Originally opened in 1980, the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems is considered one of the top mineral and gem exhibits in the country. The entire hall is divided into eight sections including Lithology and Processes, Crystallography, Mineral Properties, Fluorescence and Phosphorescence, Locality Suites, Pennsylvania Minerals & Gems, Systematic Collection, and the Masterpiece Gallery.
Hillman Hall of Minerals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh
Photograph courtesy of Hillman Hall of Minerals
Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems has always been one of the museum’s most popular and important halls. “It is very exciting to see the specimens in a new light,” said Dave Smith, interim co-director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “I believe visitors who have loved Hillman Hall for years will be pleasantly surprised by what they encounter once it reopens."
While Hillman Hall was closed, the museum acquired numerous minerals and gems that are now on display now, including pieces from the Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia Collection. The acquisition of minerals from this historical collection, coupled with the museum’s own collection, make the museum home to the world’s most important collection of Pennsylvania minerals.
Other fascinating pieces in the collection include the breathtaking City in the Clouds, a cluster of gemmy tourmaline crystals of watermelon-colored spikes protruding like skyscrapers, and the 2,200-pound glacial nugget of native float copper discovered south of Houghton, Michigan. Called ‘float’ copper due to its occurrence in glacial gravels once referred to as ‘glacial floats,’ this rare form of native copper is even more unusual because of its immense size.
Part of the renovation project of Hillman Hall includes the creation of the Wertz Gallery of Gems and Jewelry, which will focus on gems, the crystals they come from and jewelry comprised of precious stones. Wertz Gallery, named in honor of Ronald W. Wertz, longtime president of the Hillman Foundation, will open in September.
Originally opened in 1980, the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems is considered one of the top mineral and gem exhibits in the country. The entire hall is divided into eight sections including Lithology and Processes, Crystallography, Mineral Properties, Fluorescence and Phosphorescence, Locality Suites, Pennsylvania Minerals & Gems, Systematic Collection, and the Masterpiece Gallery.
Resources:
Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Hillman Hall of Minerals, (412) 622-3131, is located at 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA.
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