Mark Watt

Artwork Title:

Very Heavy Metal

Materials:

Discarded Metal

Artist Statement:

My piece is titled Very Heavy Metal. I'm lucky enough to be able to source a lot of used and unwanted metal from my work in a factory. My main inspiration to create this guitar was the surrounding chain that I acquired from the machine I work on. It has sections of large chain and then a brass section. Also, there are numerous large machine bearings that I have cleaned up and used. The main neck of the guitar contains parts from a small welding bench that I used for about 12 months. I have since bought myself a more functional welding table.

The most difficult and time-consuming part of this build was the guitar strings, which needed to be joined and tightened. I really enjoy looking at all the other smaller parts in this piece as they all tell a story of their own.

When people look at my guitar, they see a finished product that’s nice and shiny, however keep in mind, a lot of the bolts and nuts were rusted and dirty and heading to land fill. I had to clean them up and sand them to get them to this point, and this was very time consuming.

I don’t aim for perfect because I feel this would take away from the industrial look.

I hope people enjoy my art as much as I enjoy making it.

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:

‘Hi, my name is Mark Watt. Three years ago, I decided I needed a hobby, so I bought myself a welder. I work in a local cheese making factory, so this was way out of my realm. However, in my favour I had a lot of motivation. Starting out on small projects, selling items at markets, getting a feel for working with various sized metals, I decided to put a lot of my items into a local pop up shop, things went a bit too well, making me quite busy working full time and making various custom pieces to sell and making shop items as well. After a period of trial and error I decided I wanted to make things that I really enjoyed, so I started making larger art pieces for all to see and enjoy as much as I do!’