February 13, 1987
Sculptor scours scrapheap
Abstract shapes meant to provoke
by RICK GREEN Courant Staff Writer
"In the past four or five years Landino has made 350 pieces out of scrap, he estimates. They range from a 2.000 - pound model of a tall ship he created for the city of New Haven to a mammoth ball and chain he fashioned out of an old marker buoy and a chain from a bulldozer."
Photo Caption: John Landino of Cheshire is framed by two of his sculptures outside his studio along the Quinnipiac River in New Haven
Photo Credit: Michael Levingham (special to the Courant)
Is a rested, curved piece of scrap metal art? Is an old sail billowing in the breeze, with children struggling to hold onto it?
What about an 11 story building partially wrapped in nylon?
For sculptor and conceptual artist John Landino of Cheshire, art is all of these things and more. Using anything he can find, Landino works in abstract forms to produce objects and "art experiences" that he says deal with change, the future and the subconscious.
"I've always tried to take a material that was stable and create movement and change," says Landino, whose artistry takes him from his home in Cheshire to scrap metal yards, roadside tag sales, and landfill sites. Dealing primarily in "found objects," Landino creates abstract art forms.
To create his metal sculptures he never cuts, but rather welds together various pieces until they reach a form he is satisfied with. "I find objects and resurrect them into a new form, "he says with confidence.
The art he creates is not always something people immediately lie. but make no mistake, his work often attracts a lot of public interest-something that Landino says is all part of his art form.
A case in point. In September 1084, Landino and another artist - in the fashion of master site artist Christo -c completely wrapped a four-story Victorian building in New Haven in clear plastic. Last year, he wrapped several exterior floors of the Gateway Center Building in New Haven with 3,000 yards of nylon.
"What I do may be uncomfortable for people, "Landino says, But part of what I am trying to do is to make people react."
Landino's abstract sculpture titled "Homage to Creativity" caused a stir at a Cheshire park two years ago. Consisting of a curved piece of steel resting upon an 8 - foot I -beam on top of a metal post, the piece eventually was removed.
"Artwork doesn't have to be accepted by everybody," he says carelessly.
Still Phyllis Satin owner of the Wave art gallery in New Haven says a major attraction of Landino's sculptures is that try invite the observer to come closer, to touch or rub or climb on them.
"People seem to really respond to them," Satin said. Last fall, the gallery helped Landino organize a self - guided tour of his sculptures placed throughout New Haven.
Rarely paying for objects, Landino is always on the lookout for pre-art junk. "I try to make some sense of waste or scrap - there's beauty wherever you look. A dump is a place I feel real comfortable in."
In the past four or five years Landino has made 350 pieces out of scrap, he estimates. They range from a 2.000 - pound model of a tall ship he created for the city of New Haven to a mammoth ball and chain he fashioned out of an old marker buoy and a chain from a bulldozer.
Although he has been working in metal only for the past five years, the 39 - year old Landino has quickly made an impression on the Connecticut art community.
"It was the meditative quality of his work that first attracted me, "said Deborah Frizel of the Connecticut Gallery in Marlborough. "I heard about his sculpture walk [in New Haven] and I went to see some of his pieces. I became very excited by his work and personality.
"Usually people aren't attracted to abstract sculpture, but it has something to do with his forms. proportions and relationships. "she said. "They invite you to touch and sit on them." Combining his career as an artist with a separate career as a recreational therapist, Landino sees part of his life's work as helping people relieve stress. One of Landino's major goals is to create sculptures that invite the observer to touch, to imagine and to fantasize.
"My sense is that in our society we don't have a lot of outlets to relieve stress, anger or tension, "said Landino, who works in a studio by the Quinnipiac River in New Haven: "Public art takes people out of their ordinary environment"
He points to Christo and Alexander Calder as major influences in his evolving career, " I always thought I was going to be a traditional sculptor but once I got a torch in my hand," he says excitedly," ...it was the fire and the element of stell that did it."
He divides his art and his therapy practice equally, but lately, as his art projects have grown, so has his time commitment to art. Recently he purchased a small crane to assist him in fashioning larger, "more pubic" sculpture outdoors.
Landino has set his sights on more large projects. He says he would like to work more in nylon and in kinetic wind forms. He'd also like to completely wrap the soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, which is now under renovation, in Harford's Bushnell Park.
"Imagine, " Landino says excitedly. "I know if I wrapped it I'd get at least 3 million people to see that arch who didn't even notice it in the past."
FOR IMAGES AND INTERACTIONS:
MEET & ENGAGE WITH JOHN LANDINO & OTHERS IN THE ARCHIVE
Link to John Landino in the Archive:
Link to John Landino New Haven Environmental Art Works in the Archive
