homelighting.com

Magazine Online

An Artist of Luminary Proportions

Philadelphia artist Harry Anderson makes light work of illuminating found objects.

By Deborah P. Neely

Every true artist has the ability to see things that others do not. The sculptor sees the image of a man, while others view a block of stone. The painter envisions a rolling landscape where there still remains a blank canvas.
     True to form, Harry Anderson, a Philadelphia-based artist whose work includes lamps and lighting fixtures, finds possibility in the most ordinary of items,
often things others have deemed worthless and discarded.
     Whimsy and humor earmark his work, but there is no overriding theme - except perhaps, that it is unconventional, functional, and decorative. The list of materials Anderson incorporates into his lighting projects are so vast and varied they could likely not be contained on one page. He has used circular saw blades, automobile parts, cut-glass doorknobs, buttons, dice, garden hose, copper pipe, and even an agitator from a washing machine. Anderson doesn't just reuse his found objects, he often re-casts them into roles above and beyond their original callings. Some lamps require studied contemplation to recognize the components' original forms. An object may be used upside down or sideways; it may be refinished or completely disassembled. The light may filter in different directions, or it might be generated from more than one source on a single piece; the bulbs may be colored or clear, shaded or not. Calling the artist's designs "lamps" may be an understatement, a simplification of his tribute to illumination. These are at the very least lamps, but more, they are lighting sculptures.
     "I began making lighting for myself by rearranging lamps I had bought. People liked them so much I began making more of them," Anderson says. That was in the mid-1980s; now lighting constitutes the main body of his work.
      "I do a lot of different things. I've done a running man figure [lamp], one with crossed arms, geometrics, minimalist pieces, all kinds of things," he notes. "You have to do new things constantly."
     Along with exhibiting his work Anderson also does commissioned pieces. "I like responding to customer's needs," he says, remembering one client. "We were walking through the gallery talking about what she wanted, when she said, 'Can you use that?'" She was pointing to an old vacuum cleaner. " 'Well,' I told her, 'I hadn't thought about using that, but yeah, I can.' " So he did.
     The piece, called "Hoover" for obvious reasons, became a favorite of his. After completing the commissioned work, Anderson created a similar piece that is currently on display at the Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia.
     Anderson does not do mass production; many pieces are one-of-a-kind. "There are some multiples [of lamps], but there are no more than 5 to 10 of any one [design]," he comments.
      So, where does Anderson go for inspiration? "Everywhere," the soft-spoken artist says. Aside from the everyday elements that stoke Anderson's artistic fire, there are tried-and-true places where collectors can be sure to come across something interesting.
     "I go to flea markets and industrial junkyards," he admits.
     His passion for collecting has led him to stockpile quite a few things. "I have probably 1,000 items for every 10 things I use," he confesses, explaining that he works both at home and in a studio, which allows for a larger workspace and greater storage.     "Reuse just happens when you collect a lot," the artist comments about his affinity for using found objects. Although, he adds, there is also the need to recycle.
     Anderson's found-object passion has led him to join a group that shares that interest, the "Dumpster Divers." The group, a non-profit organization made up of artists, photographers, architects, and others, meets monthly as a luncheon club. They swap stories about their work and good finds they've come across. "It's a loosely defined group of about 40 people," he says.
     According to Anderson, the group will soon be moving on to a new venture. "We're starting a found object resource called 'Please Take.'" Conceived to operate on a barter system, Please Take will be a place where like-minded collectors and creatives can bring things they like (but are not interested in keeping) and can acquire someone else's interesting find. Still in its early planning stages, Please Take will have a Web site, and the group has already secured a donated building in Philadelphia to house the project.
     A former industrial design student at the University of Illinois, Anderson later studied sculpture at Penn State. "I was moving more in the direction of architecture," he says, noting that as a child he was often singled out as being very creative.
     The realization of that talent is apparent from the voluminous resume of exhibitions, both collaborative and solo, that Anderson has accumulated. He has also written more than a half-dozen books on his and other artists' work, and he has taught, as well as curated exhibitions.
     Anderson's artwork can be seen at the Snyderman Gallery, where it has been exhibited (in varying forms), for more than 10 years and at the Glass Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland. Other upcoming exhibitions are tentative at the moment in the aftermath of the terrorists attacks on September 11.
     "Everything is up in the air right now," he explains. "I had something planned in Washington [D.C.], but that is now on hold."
     Currently the artist is at work on a commissioned chandelier. "I'm still in the conceptual stage with this one," he says. When completed it will be a "kind of reconfigured piece from the gallery," which is where the client saw and liked it. But, he assures, "This one will have its own special touches."