My father sold large metal fabricating machinery and I recall that as a child, I was
fascinated by the sounds and designs of the machines: especially the large gears, bearings
and motors. I had a chance to play with these machines and get a feeling for how a
machine functions. I would draw and construct toy fantasy machines out of cardboard and
wood. I also remember that for me, the most exciting part of getting a new toy was to take it
apart and understand what made it work.
Years later, as a college student studying art, biology and chemistry, I met craftsman who
worked with different metal fabrication technologies. For the first time, I realized it was
possible to build and make functional the fantasy objects from my youth. Events on campus
— including the Viet Nam protests, civil rights demonstrations and a prevailing mood to
question authority — combined with my new technological skills and I started creating art
work with moral, as well as mechanical, implications.
When I was a child, I had approached machines with a child's innocent wonder. Today I am
amazed as well as perplexed by technology. Scientific advances are dazzling. Religion
asks questions of this advanced science: Are people recognizing the moral consequences
of their technological achievements? As an artist I use mechanical technology to invent
devices that blur the definition of useful achievement and focus on paradoxical societal
problems.
I enjoy the skills to transform a daydream into a functional reality. While two-dimensional
celluloid facsimiles or computer models simulate a mental image, a finished mechanical
sculpture actually becomes a functioning reality.
When I design a sculpture, I question how "systems" relate to each other: How does the
electronic system relate to the mechanical system to the pneumatic system to the
AESTHETIC system to a societal issue. When a kinetic system is activated by human
movement and this movement makes the person see a symbolic issue or feel an emotion,
then I feel successful about my work. I have mastered a long list of mechanical techniques
used to fabricate my sculpture. These metal working techniques include, lathe turning,
milling, internal manderal tube bending, hot and cold steel forging, Tig, Mig and Gas
welding, plasma cutting, hydraulic forming, grinding , polishing and texturing. I also enjoy
designing simple photo sensitive electronic circuits and pneumatic and hydraulic circuits.
Some components of my sculptures are designed on CAD computer software and
fabricated in factories set up to use CAD generated designs.
- Ira D Sherman
IRA SHERMAN ARTIST METALSMITH INVENTOR
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