Mixologists

Object number2015.51.30

Artist Deanna Mance

Sculptor Aaronel deRoy Gruber (1918 - 2011)

Date2009

MediumPlastic ;Metal; Paper; Ink; Wood; Paint; Unknown

Credit LineGift of Terry Gruber

DescriptionRectangular silver-tone brushed metal base with U-shaped silver-tone brushed metal piece attached on top. Suspended from the U-shaped metal piece via a metal rod is a plastic cube mounted diagonally. Musical noise emanates from the sculpture when the cube is rotated by hand; the noise is quiet and is reminiscent of a jack-in-the-box sound; this music is made by unknown items within the cube.The cube has six different faces each with a protruding rounded squares (bubbles) of varying size. The faces are different colors and the protruding squares (bubbles) contain different items including baby doll parts and other toys.Dimensions2.53 x 24.938 x 18 in. (6.4 x 63.3 x 45.7 cm)
Historical NotesThis sculpture was originally created by Aaronel deRoy Gruber in 1969 and entitled "Music Box." In 2009, the artist was asked, as part of the Associated Artists Association centennial, to collaborate with an emerging artist to produce a new work of art. She decided to work with emerging artist Deanna Mance. The show was titled "Exchange." Deanna Mance produced the drawings that were incorporated into "Music Box" and it was renamed "Mixologists." Mance used image of Aaronel's smokestacks to make the background imagery. The tiny toys and baby-doll parts in the interior, are a nod to Aaronel deRoy Gruber and Irving Gruber's toy collection. Aaronel deRoy Gruber was a 1940 graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) who majored in costume design. Gruber started out as a painter dedicated to the Abstract Expressionist movement that dominated the mid-20th century and later, beginning in the 1960s, got involved in sculpture working in steel, Uvex, and Plexiglas. In the late 1980s she got involved in photography. Gruber continued working up until her death in 2011. Donor Terry Gruber is the son of Aaronel deRoy Gruber and Irving Gruber.

Related institution Carnegie Mellon University

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