Val came in for a Landing…
In 1949, Val Bertoia landed on planet Earth.
It was like a magical, mystical miracle the day
he was born (27 June).
Since then, he has been discovering and learning
about life on this amazing planet. Every child
born is an artist by Nature. Val’s parents, Harry
and Brigitta, gave him a wide free range of
access into the woodlands and fields at home
near BertoiaStudio in Bally, Pennsylvania.
Being self-taught in Nature, Val formulated
the Growing Directional Spiral, using a
combination of 6 directions,
Earth-East-South-West-North-Sky
and the 12-year Chinese animal chart based on
4-year sections, designed the Valway.
(See image of Val’s square-spiral.)
Val’s life seems to run in 4-year increments.
4 years as a Boy-Scout, 4 years as a ScoutMaster,
4 years of Mechanical-Engineering at Indiana-Tech,
4 years as a glider pilot, and so on.
In the 1970s, Val’s work with Harry advanced him
into his own work. Starting out on a small scale,
making wind-moved sculptures, Val was intrigued
with his development of wind-driven generators
reaching over 90-ft. upward toward the sky.
Val was so inspired by Harry’s inventive sounding-
sculptures, that he kept the Studio going for
4 decades. Numbering each artwork that was made
in the Studio, since 6th of November 1978, Val
and team managed to reach more than the number
B-2000 by now. That seems to be an average of
over 50 artworks per year, or about 1 per week.
The latest fun-project as initiated by Studio-B
is the combining of artists to do an artwork.
Melissa Strawser took on the challenge of etching
a small bronze Bertoia sounding-gong, and then
printing it onto the best paper. Then she
continued this discovery with larger Bertoia gongs,
etching and printing 4-ft sizes, or bigger.
Through many interviews, Val responds to the
question, “What is the greatest part of art
in your life?”
Val agrees that the creative process
certainly includes people as priority. For example,
—The idea from the mind, may be a memory or an
impression.
—The drawing out on paper, the idea visualized
and planning on a scaled size.
—The fabricating of parts, and assembling these
into something wonderful.
—The appreciation by people and the interaction
to a level of healing and enjoyment.
This is evident in Val’s Garden-of-Sound-Healing.
As visitors come into the Sonambient barn, and
sit on Knoll-made Bertoia chairs, they listen
to the swaying metal rods, and hear the tapped
gong sounds with a kind of uplifting meditation.
It is the people that make Val’s artworks special.
Not only at Val’s home-ground, it is all over
the world, that people can be enlightened with
Val’s work.
Val continues to travel by car or plane for
repairing Harry’s small works, and Harry’s large
works are continued to be transported to
BertoiaStudio for repairs.
The best part of art is the fun of it, and the
productive activities in life that bring it all
together with people he likes.
Looks good, Sounds good, and Feels good!
Melissa Strawser & Val Bertoia Interview, Studio B, Boyertown, PA https://youtu.be/_KXpCb9vJtk
