The Curiosity Lab, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh

Hooray for creativity! Three cheers for the Curiosity Lab!

Jeff Schreckengost with one of his guitars

I’ve been interested (obsessed may be a more appropriate word) in guitars – their design and the sounds they make for the past 30 years — and have always had the desire to create my very own music-making tools.

I  tinkered a bit with old thrift store instruments, trying to find various ways to improve or alter them. I learned many things by trial and error and had a lot of fun along the way.

My goal is to create functional works of art from found objects; It’s a recycling mission of sorts. I may reconfigure existing instruments or build everything from scratch using reclaimed hardwoods.
When someone picks up one of my instruments, they’re often shocked and amused that what they’re holding may have been a dining room table, part of a barn floor or a door to a church.

I’m really pleased to have a few of my instruments on display in the Curiosity Lab and hope they inspire others to make their very own imaginative musical tools.

To see some examples of the things i make, visit http://jschreckengost.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/instruments/ or drop by the Curiosity Lab and see them in person while you create your own one of a kind instrument.

Jeff

August 4, 2010 at 3:29 pm jschreckengost 1 comment