Arthur Ganson (Hartford, Connecticut, 1955) is best known as a sculptor of Rube Goldberg-like machines that underscore the existential nature of human existence. The artist describes himself as a cross between an engineer and a choreographer. While his machines don’t serve a practical function, Ganson creates them to explore the world, his relationship to it, and to encourage his audience to meditate on ideas. In My Little Violin, he creates a sculpture both romantic and creepy. The 1938 song You Go to My Head, popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, is played at a dramatically slowed-down speed that deepens the voice into a wailing moan. The music is accompanied by the sound of the grinding gears powering the mechanical arms that softly stroke the body of the violin with ostrich feathers. The combination of the longing in the recorded music, the hard, glossy surface of the violin, and the almost palpable sense of featherweight touch led the artist to humorously say “It seems that they were meant for one another.” Ganson has said, "I find [playing] the violin in many ways more attractive than the guitar. . . even more attractive in some ways than making sculpture. I think this is because playing music involves my body in time and space, and it's very much a meditation."
