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Micro Science, Macro Art - Heiko Greb
By Kathleen Holder In the lab, microbiologist Heiko Greb works with tiny tools-measuring droplets of cell-culture solutions into tubes no bigger than the tip of his pinkie finger. But in art, Greb likes to wield a big blade with 2.2-horsepower motor. He carves sculptures from tree stumps and logs using a chainsaw. One of his latest works, his first on American soil, was cut from the stump of a fallen hackberry tree outside the Hutchison Hall lab where he works. In the sculpture, a hand rises from the base of the stump, holding aloft an airy cube, which in turn sprouts hands from three corners. It is, he says, a metaphor for how technology that is designed to free humans can instead take control. Greb, a visiting scholar and a "part-time farm boy" who once worked in German forests as a logger, signed his work with his e-mail address and carved this message: "This sculpture was made with a chainsaw and only a chainsaw. One can still create structures with a tool made normally to destroy them. It is our choice." The delicate sculpture, carved with the permission of the campus's top groundskeeper, remained in place until late February when Greb cut it down himself. Greb says the wood was mildewing and he wanted to save it from further damage while he made a three-week trip to his native Germany. While in Germany, Greb found a chainsaw-artist's windfall-a whole forest full of stumps and logs. Storms two years ago had downed 60 percent of the trees in dense woods near his brother's home outside Stuttgart. Greb set to work and carved two more sculptures and a free-form set of bookshelves. Those pieces bring to 10 the number of works he's done since he first took up chainsaw carving in 1995. Other pieces include fertility deities and a serpent for his brother and sister-in-law's garden-this paradise they live on; a larval Creature of Two Worlds made of both wood and metal; and a floral figure for a friend who frequently teased him that he never brought her flowers. "I wanted to see how delicate I could go with a chainsaw," Greb says of the 1 ½-foot tall Or a Flower. Greb, 31, came to UC Davis in September 1999 to work with microbiology professor Marty Privalsky. Greb researches the genetic basis of thyroid hormones, which help regulate metabolism and are involved in certain metabolic diseases. He plans to return to Germany to finish his doctorate after a couple more years of research here. Greb said he finds similarities in the creativity involved in his science and his art. "In one point, it's the same, that you play around with ideas," he says. However, he finds that from scientific discovery arises learned knowledge, which primarily engages his conscious mind. Chipping a sculpture from a piece of tree, on the other hand, is like giving shape to a dream. "It's like trying to process things that happen in your life," he says. "Do you ever try to explain your own dreams? Things seem totally weird if you just look at them as a dream. But if you think about what happened the day before, what's going on in your life, then they have meaning." The forms take shape in his head before he picks up his chainsaw, Greb says. "You have to have an image to start with. Otherwise you will cut vital parts away." However, he doesn't sketch his ideas first "I'm not good at 3-D drawing. I'm really good at 3-D thinking." His vision for his hand-cube sculpture began to form in his mind a few days after he had conversations with friends about whether humans control technology, or vice versa. "To me the cubic form is everything that we create artificially, that can be political systems, TVs, mass media, as well as tools to repair cars. … Are we still in charge of the creative process or do the machines create in our own image?" Sal Genito, campus grounds manager, had some visions of the horror-movie kind when Greb came asking permission to carve his stump sculpture. "Normally, we do not approve something like this," Genito says. "Just imagine if everyone came up with a chainsaw, it could get out of control. "I took a little bit of a risk. He seemed like such a nice guy." The sculpture took Greb a total of about nine hours over a weekend to carve. He started at the top of the stump and worked his way down, "cutting away the things that don't belong there." The finished piece drew a number of positive comments from faculty and staff members who work in Hutchison Hall, as well as passersby and grounds workers. "It certainly was the buzz in the building for a number of weeks," said Privalsky. "A number of people expressed concerns that it might be vandalized. It never was." "Our staff wanted to keep it there," Genito said. The piece could still return to public exhibit. Greb has offered it to the campus. If administrators accept it, the stump sculpture would join at least one other on campus. This Redwood Tree, carved in 1992 by then-Masters of Fine Arts student Ted Hirsch, stands along West Quad Avenue across the street from the west entrance to the Coffee House. If the campus rejects his offer, Greb says his sculpture may go to a friend's garden. And in the meantime, he is planning his next piece. "There are always a couple of forms in my head." |