Help Save A National Treasure By Designer Harry Bertoia
Author:Lindsey ShookFurniture and print maker, sculptor, and jeweler. Design great Harry Bertoia was a man of many talents, but musician? Not only did Bertoia invent a new category of kinetic sound sculptures, which he called Sonambient, he also recorded 11 LPs of music and more than 350 reels of tape playing these sculptures in a renovated Pennsylvania barn that served as his gallery and recording studio.
In an effort to save these one-of-a-kind musical artifacts, the Harry Bertoia Foundation, spearheaded by Bertoia’s daughter Celia Bertoia, along with Important Records has launched a Kickstarter to transfer the analog recordings to a digital archive. Not only will the campaign preserve Bertoia’s recordings, it will also permit many previously unreleased works to finally become available.
If you aren’t a modern design buff, the rewards may still tempt you. Our favorite: the screen-printed poster featuring Bertoia’s Sonambient sketches. Visit the Kickstarter page for more information on this exciting project.
Sonambient screen-printed poster
