Crushed Autos as Art

New York’s Guggenheim Museum has some sculptures made of automobile parts. The sculptures are the work of American artist John Chamberlain. He died in December of 2011 at the age of 84. The Guggenheim Museum organized a show of Chamberlain’s work. Susan Davidson tells how he reshaped the cars.

SUSAN DAVIDSON: “He is able to choose the positioning of the colors, the fit of the shapes that he brings together, the sound that the metal makes when he assembles it.”

She says John Chamberlain used common materials in an uncommon way. In addition to old cars, he worked with urethane foam, plastic and aluminum foil. His sculptures were placed away from the museum’s walls so people could see them from all sides. Writer Deborah Bearg says the sculptures offer the imagination an unlimited number of images.

DEBORAH BEARG: “Every time you’re looking, you’re going to see something else. I’m sure if I walk back through this part of it today, I’ll see very different images.”

Waynette Ballengee from Louisiana says that, at first, she did not like the show.

WAYNETTE BALLANGEE: “But as I traveled up the rotunda, it started to make more sense to me. And I thought that it became more interesting, as he changed the way that he worked with the materials.”

Declan Kennedy is from Ireland. He likes the building, but not the exhibit.

DECLAN KENNEDY: “I think it just looks probably just a lot of scrunched up metal. So it’s not, it doesn’t appeal to me.”

I’m Steve Ember.