David Ebbinghouse has been using bones, sticks and hair in his artwork for more than 30 years.
Using natural items from the Bloomington area is like using autobiographical material, he said. They’re a signature of the place and can create visceral responses to the natural world.
“If you see my art, you’ll see something different,” Ebbinghouse said. “You don’t have to read magazines or the latest philosopher’s findings to understand it. You can just respond on an emotional level to what I’m doing.”
Ebbinghouse will be displaying more than two dozen pieces along with local artist Patrick Siney at Blueline Media Productions as part of its new exhibit starting Friday.
Ebbinghouse creates sculpture out of natural materials he finds walking around Bloomington and Brown County including geodes, stray junk, sticks and his own hair.
Taking these materials, he arranges them into sculptures, installations and performance art.
“I’m trying to redefine what it means to be an artist, because right now it means I have to leave Bloomington and make things for rich people to buy,” he said. “That doesn’t fit well with me.”
Ebbinghouse is focused on creating experiences with his work and trying to react to the situations and materials he encounters while gathering.
One piece is made from a 1954 Studebaker gas cap riddled with bullet holes he found while walking around the woods. He balanced an old smashed door knob along the edge of the gas cap.
The qualities, textures and colors of the pieces suggest all kinds of things, Ebbinghouse said. But it depends what the viewer gets out of the piece.
“I used to try to explain to everyone all of the different ways of looking at something,” he said. “But you encounter it and you have an experience and you make that your own.”
Although some see it as two pieces of junk, the placement and arrangement are not arbitrary. They’re based on the experiences and associations humans have with objects, he said. Certain songs or places bring back memories and feelings people can’t put labels on.
“Art helps you express something,” Ebbinghouse said. “It’s an avenue.”
Siney, the other artist being displayed in the exhibit, is showing a collection of photographs featuring his rock towers in the Jordan River, Clear Creek, Salt Creek, Leonard Springs and others.
He started assembling them two years ago after being inspired on a hiking trip to Colorado. When he got back, he immediately started building them in the Jordan River.
“It’s a whole new process each time because every rock is different,” he said. “You don’t plan on building anything specific.”
When people come to the exhibit, he hopes they can feel the tranquility and fragility of the sculptures through the photograph.
Ebbinghouse said he wants people to come and relate to his artwork as well. He wants people to respond to the naturalness and feel a nostalgia for an old world culture. But most importantly, he wants people to think about art.
“I’m not playing the art game the way people normally play it,” he said. “People have expectations about what art should be. I’m trying to come at it from a different point of view.”
