20 Minutes of Bertoia Sound Sculptures

Enjoy listening to 20 minutes of the sounds and textures of Harry Bertoia's sonambients.

Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) was one of the most prolific innovators of modern art and design. Although he is perhaps most renowned for his 1950s suite of wire furniture designed for Knoll, Inc., Bertoia spent his 40-year career experimenting with materials and techniques, producing works in a variety of mediums. Of the many serendipities that emerged from Bertoia’s metallic experiments, perhaps the most momentous was his sudden realization of the potential of metal’s sonic qualities. Bringing together vision and sound, Bertoia transmuted metal rods, wires, sheets, and tubes of various sizes and shapes into tonals, gongs, and singing bars. He called these sound sculptures “sonambients,” for their ability to create an ambient sound environment when activated.

This video was recorded at the "Harry Bertoia: Master Modernist" exhibition, sponsored by the Bertoia Foundationa and HB Workplaces, at Southern Utah Museum of Art.