All the news from Hackertown

Inspired by the variety of shapes, colors & materials found in outdated technology, Melissa Glick combines e-waste with imagery to make one of a kind home decor, jewelry & accessories called Hacker Creations. Working out of the Artisan’s Asylum since 2013.

www.hackercreations      www.etsy.com/shop/hackercreations

SAVE THE DATE: Artisans Asylum Winter Market & Open House Sat & Sun Dec. 8 & 9 – 11 am – 5 pm. Tours, demos, hands on activities and Battle Bots on Saturday!

SomerStreets Oct. 17 Somerville, MA

Its not even Halloween yet and I have already carved a 100 lb pumpkin. Mine is the farthest on the left. First time partaking in this Artisan’s Asylum tradition. Those gourds are really thick but I think I’d take a different tact next time and leave more of the skin and draw detail into the surface. Like this awesome one from years past……

I love this Pumpkin! Who did this one?

In the Studio

I’ve started working larger! Since I’ve been getting inquiries for Office Decor from Tech Companies and now The Cambridge Arts Council is looking for large work to hang in WeWork co-working space. CAC exhibits art in many of the buildings in Kendal Square, Cambridge, as part of their Creative  Marketplace program. Perfect timing since I have finished the first in a series of three tall ones. Agam Totem is 5′ x 1′ made on wood with a white painted frame.

Agam Totem

Blue Construction is 2′ x 2′ and is my first experiment building on a new material. Pink insulation board is extruded Polystyrene and is much lighter than wood. I am discovering a whole new way to attach the parts because the material has very different qualities.

Both are part of a series done over the bright colors of Yacov Agam. Agam is a kinetic artist who is 100 years old and living in Israel. This is the link to his incredible Museum which I would love to visit. I use a portion of the original work, often altering the color and multiply it in Photoshop. I use color photocopies and Mod Podge to “decoupage” a surface for the construction to be built over.

Blue Construction

I have long intended to make work echoing Russian Constructivism. This early abstract movement plays with abstract shapes in compelling compositions. Some notable artists of this era include: Kazimir Malevich,, El Lissitzky & Alexander Rodchenko. Check them out!

I hope you will visit my website to see the latest additions to my Feminism and Technology (formally known as Victorian Ladies) series. The current stable includes: Ada Lovelace, Mermaid, Alice Contemplates the Galaxy, German Engineering and VL, Victorian on Wallpaper. See All my new work at the Winter Market & Open House Dec. 8 &  9.

Holiday Events

Boston Hassle Halloween Market, Cambridge Community Center – Sunday October 28th, from 12pm-6pm – 5 Callender Street, Cambridge.

Google Cambridge Office Holiday Market – Friday December 7, 2018 from 3-5pm

Artisan’s Asylum Winter Market & Open House & Battle Bots – Sat & Sun. Dec 8 & 9 -11 am – 5 pm, 10 Tyler St, Somerville.

MassArt Made Holiday Sale* will be December 2-8, 2018 – 10:00am to 7:00pm in the Lobby of the Tower Building at MassArt,  621 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA.

Institute of Affordable Art*, Dorchester Art Project 1486 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester MA.

I am happy to announce that we have a new member to our family her name is Dee Dee #1806221344. Thank you Skunadelia 

*inclusion to be confirmed.

 

Updated Bio and Dali’s Table

Dali’s Table, 2017 Patterns upon patterns over the distorted red pattern from Dali’s 1956 painting Living Still Life (French: Nature Morte Vivante) Dali painted this piece during a period that he called “Nuclear Mysticism.”^[1] Nuclear Mysticism is composed of different theories that try to show the relationships between quantum physics and the conscious mind. The different theories are composed of elements that range from “Catalan philosophers” to “classicism, pop art, and nuclear physics.”^[2] The painting, done in 1956, currently resides at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I find beauty in unexpected places.  As a “hacker” I take things apart and re-purpose them in cool new ways. I transform “e-waste”- discarded electronics and outdated computer components into dynamic compositions that combine 2D color and pattern with 3D abstract forms. My work touches upon issues ofintimacy, excess, ecology and raising awareness. My work has been described as being ”structural poetry.”

 

Growing up, my Dad worked at Raytheon (1960-90) and brought home outdated equipment that was being thrown out. I never opened a computer until I joined The Artisan’s Asylum, maker space in Somerville MA in 2012.  Since that time I have learned a great deal about the abundance of outdated technology and the toll it is taking on the world because manufacturers do not take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products.

There’s an element of chance in my work since my materials are given to me and because each series of computer I open is different. It’s like a treasure hunt.  I know immediately if a piece is visually interesting or not (unless I’m in an indecisive mood). The visual excitement when a particular shape just POPS when in relation to a particular color or pattern is thrilling.

I weave in my background and love of Modernism by appropriating imagery from the past. Originally I built upon a surface made from old letters, post cards and other personal items that romantic people accumulate. Currently I incorporate digital imagery (mine, Modern Art, random print) which I alter with Photoshop.  The compositions place shapes of disassembled technology in relationship with abstract imagery with contrast, balance and repetition and suggest a connection or equivalence.

I grew up going to DeCordova summer camp where my creativity was always encouraged. At the age of ten I saw the Acropolis in Athens and knew I would be studying Art History when I went to college. Between visiting galleries and museums in NYC while at SUNY Purchase and a year in Paris, I developed my aesthetic sense and became focused on contemporary art.  After 5 years of doing administrative work at the ICA, I enrolled at Mass College of Art and earned a Masters in Art Education. I have run educational programs at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Boston Ballet, Museum of Fine Arts. Once I got out of the office and starting making art, I taught at Watertown Arsenal Center for the Arts, Parts & Crafts. I offer workshops to people of all ages at the Artisan’s Asylum and at various community events.

www.hackercreations.com

www.artisansasylum.com

www.etsy.com/shop/hackercreations

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