of warning . He is here to provide humanity with the proper weapons to fi ght back against the foes of superfi ciality and consumerism . His weapon of choice is the guitar . It should come as no surprise that Maxwell Hartley ventured into the world of instrument creation or that he chose to create guitars above all else . For centuries , humanity has used music as a way of passing down ancestral history , telling stories , conveying profound truths , and expressing emotional turmoil . Court jesters used humorous songs to jovially roast their employers and Shakespeare often included songs in his plays . Hartley continues this human tradition in the 21 st century , not by creating the music , but by creating the object that makes the music .
2016 ’ s Zeebass is a powerful machine , an instrument of precision and elegance . For Hartley , “ building a guitar can be seen as a form of ultimate sculpture .” Creating a musical instrument with the intention of using it to make music is not simply assembling the correct parts in the proper order . It is more like crafting an exquisitely dangerous katana for a samurai . Hartley elaborates on his artistic intent by stating , “ These works challenge the viewer to consider the potential energy bound within common elements .” By focusing solely on the instrument itself , Hartley is essentially equipping musicians with a piece of artwork on which they can create their own art . Bulletproof Dimebag is a glorious example of all the pieces coming together , culminating
Anomaly , cast ceramic , photo by Shelley Lake
In a New Direction , mixed media on canvas print
37 www . ARTBORNEMAGAZINE . com