Eotechnic Sensorium Artists: Mark Andreas


Mark Andreas

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From the beginning Mark Andreas wanted to create sculpture that could do more than express concepts and forms. He wanted them to move physically and act as forces of nature.

Mark was raised in Connecticut, and has had a varied career not only as an artist, but as a craftsman, carpenter, furniture maker, black smith, and boat builder. Ultimately, however, he is a sculptor and has been for over twenty years.

The majority of his sculpture is kinetic or, what he calls environmentally reactive. Generally, his work is an exploration of time, forces of nature, and change. His sculptures juxtapose traditional hand crafted woodworking and metal smithing alongside modern composite construction and natural sources of energy, such as human and solar power. His earlier work was handcrafted, hand-forged, and activated by mechanical means such as springs and gear shifts. At its core, Mark’s sculptures are built to find balance and explore the concept of time through transformation and other subtle life forces.

Mark’s work then evolved to using various other materials and means, including electronic solar-voltaic cells (a.k.a solar panels) to power his kinetic sculpture. Certain of his sculptures use solar panels that respond to the amount of light received through photovoltaic cells that power a water pump. When sufficient energy is absorbed to activate the sculpture, the pump siphons water to a higher elevation and distributes the weight of water, which causes the sculptures to react and move through different phases. The resulting cycle speeds depend on the amount of light the sculpture receives in any given environment, space, or time.

Most recently, he has been creating wall mounted sculptures that the relationship between time and transformation as well as the interaction of water, air, and solid materials which cause the sculptures to react. In one of his pieces, the viewer fills a reservoir with water and, over the course of days or weeks, the water in a portion of the piece is drawn out through a process known as capillary action. Capillary action (sometimes capillary motion or wicking) is the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, or even in opposition to, external forces like gravity. The capillary action ultimately causes the water in to evaporate and, as a result, other segments of the sculpture are slowly lowered until they reach their resting point.

As far as his exhibition background, he was represented by the Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery from 2005 to 2011, an avant-garde gallery at the time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For the past decade, he has been working as a self-employed artist, teacher, and curator in Stamford, Connecticut, where he also lives with his wife and newly rescued puppy, Mika. He has exhibited Nationally and Internationally, with shows in Berlin, Helsinki, Istanbul, Basel, Turku, Arctic Circle, Miami, Hamptons, Chicago, Atlanta, Chattanooga, New Haven, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.

Since 2011, he co-founded Videokaffe, an international art collective, through which he co-creates, curates, and organizes art exhibitions and residencies. Videokaffe seeks to find a nexus between digital and analog, through the medium of kinetic sculpture. Videokaffe has
members in Finland, the U.S., Europe, and Russia. Since its formation, the collective has had numerous exhibitions in the U.S., Russia, Germany, Finland, and Japan. The members collaborate working remotely from their studios across the world through digital media portals creating new artworks. Videokaffe members come together in the same location in different venues for a studio residence/exhibition at least once a year.

From an early age, Mark was an avid sailor and sailing continues to be
one of his passions, which has a strong influence in his work. Mark began studying boat building and carpentry as early as age fourteen. His reactive sculptures were inspired by his experiences as a sailor and boat builder and his desire to harness nature.

For over two years, Mark has also been teaching metal and wood
sculpture at Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, Connecticut