Building Steam No. 91
Artist:
Donald Lipski
(American, born 1947)
Place made:United States
Date: 1982
Dimensions:
h. 45 in. (114.3 cm); w. 17 in. (43.2 cm); d. 7 in. (17.8 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Awards in the Visual Arts and the Young Art Patrons
Object number: 85.3.5
Label Text
"The way that I work is to put things together. I
put one object near another, then this object beside
that one . . . I'm peripherally-in a non-concentrated
way-looking at all these things I tentatively put
together. They either cement themselves into a belonging
of some sort or they don't. I'm constantly changing-
adding, subtracting, substituting and reworking."
- Donald Lipski
In the 1970s, Lipski began making sculptures and wall installations from common, everyday objects. Initially, he made little sculptures from tiny objects such as paper clips, rubber bands, and matchbook covers that he kept in a cigar box. For his first major installation, called Gathering Dust, he pinned the miniature sculptures to the wall in an installation that mimicked a mounted butterfly collection. In Passing Time and Building Steam, the two series that followed, Lipski increased the scale and range of his found materials. Always working intuitively, he would join together such unlikely partners as a crystal ball placed atop an intercom or a wilted Christmas tree enclosed by an aluminum walker. Over the years, he has worked on many scales and used a vast range of materials, including airplane wings, American flags, fruits or flowers housed in industrial glass tubing, candles, and tree trunks.
Lipski believes that meaning in his art should be left to the minds of its beholders. In other words, metaphors that are suggested by the juxtapositions of objects will vary, depending on each viewer's experiences and perspectives.
(David Rubin, Label Text 2008)
put one object near another, then this object beside
that one . . . I'm peripherally-in a non-concentrated
way-looking at all these things I tentatively put
together. They either cement themselves into a belonging
of some sort or they don't. I'm constantly changing-
adding, subtracting, substituting and reworking."
- Donald Lipski
In the 1970s, Lipski began making sculptures and wall installations from common, everyday objects. Initially, he made little sculptures from tiny objects such as paper clips, rubber bands, and matchbook covers that he kept in a cigar box. For his first major installation, called Gathering Dust, he pinned the miniature sculptures to the wall in an installation that mimicked a mounted butterfly collection. In Passing Time and Building Steam, the two series that followed, Lipski increased the scale and range of his found materials. Always working intuitively, he would join together such unlikely partners as a crystal ball placed atop an intercom or a wilted Christmas tree enclosed by an aluminum walker. Over the years, he has worked on many scales and used a vast range of materials, including airplane wings, American flags, fruits or flowers housed in industrial glass tubing, candles, and tree trunks.
Lipski believes that meaning in his art should be left to the minds of its beholders. In other words, metaphors that are suggested by the juxtapositions of objects will vary, depending on each viewer's experiences and perspectives.
(David Rubin, Label Text 2008)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
