Charlotte Public Library

Bruce Hasse’s Mobiles

We wish you could see Bruce Hasse’s wonderful mobiles on display in the library. 
This slideshow is our COVID-safe solution.

Thank you to Bruce Hasse for the studio images and Cindi Robinson for the in library images. Price list available below.

About Bruce Hasse

Rarely is there a grand plan when I start a sculpture and if there is, it is usually abandoned early in the design process. One part leads to another and then it becomes a question of contrast in shape and color, balance and movement. Sections are added, taken away, added again until the sculpture feels complete.

I began introducing varied materials into the work because the first, predominantly wood, sculptures seemed somewhat monochromatic. Stimulating artifacts may include, but are not limited to, pieces of: beach stone, shell, epoxy, window screen imbedded in epoxy, a large stick found floating in Otter Creek, string trimmer cord, my old Ford Ranger, a makeup mirror, a bicycle mirror, a hard drive, a combination storm window, plastic coated wire, spent shotgun shells from Kingsland Bay, CDs, a metal straw and brush from Dunkin’ Donuts, bicycle tire bead wire, Plexiglas, water bottles and a shopping bag. All of which are joined together with wire, string, solder and space age adhesives.

I suffer from an inability to discard things because I think that someday I may be able to use them for something.

My higher education consists of two years studying biology at Rutgers University, which turned out not to be a good fit, and a bachelors degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in industrial design. I excelled in the photography classes that were part of the design program so while in school and after graduation I spent approximately a year and a half working for photo studios as a darkroom technician and assistant.

In 1970 my wife, Stephany and I left N.Y., in what is known to some as “The Great Migration”, for Vermont. Since here my career has been very much like my sculptures, pieced together, with each part relying on the last but no clear view of the outcome. I have been a photographer, a jewelry craftsman, a woodworker, a carpenter, a dental lab technician and a microelectronics worker. Just as I was reaching some level of competence in each of these fields, I decided it was a good time to do something else.

Which brings me to now, living in Charlotte with Stephany and two cats, where I have lived for the past forty six years, incorporating my life experiences and acquired skills into the art of making stuff.

*Spalted Wood: Color changes in decaying wood caused by fungi that are Introduced by insect invasion. The dark lines are boundaries between fungi.