Meet the artists, Stu and Sue Webb -- ARTECO

MEET THE ARTISTS, STEWART AND SUSAN WEBB

IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT WHAT IT IS BUT WHAT IT WAS. WORKING WITH WHAT TECHNO SCRAP GIVES US IN ELECTRONICS, COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE EVOLVED THESE ELEMENTS INTO AN ART FORM CALLED "TECHNOMONTAGE" -- THE ECLECTIC FUSION OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY.

MY WIFE AND I ARE UNTRAINED ARTISTS WHO HAVE WORKED IN DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. I HAVE SPENT MY LIFE SURROUNDED BY A VAST ARRAY OF TECHNOLOGY, RANGING FROM PHYSICS TO ELECTRONICS. WORKING IN METALS AND ALLOYS, COATING AND SEMICONDUCTORS, MY JOURNEY EVOLVED INTO POLYMERS AND PLASMA ENHANCEMENT, HOT AND COLD FUSION AND VAPOR DEPOSITION. DYSLEXIA HAS GIVEN ME THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT LIFE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

SUSAN'S BACKGROUND MERGES ART HISTORY, PSYCHOLOGY AND ELECTRONICS. SHE HAS WORKED IN THE MENTAL HEALTH FIELD AND EXPANDED INTO ELECTRONICS FOR THE PAST 28 YEARS. SUSAN HAS MERGED HER TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND INTO AN ART FORM THAT ENABLES BOTH OF US TO ARTFULLY RECYCLE HIGH TECH MATERIALS FOR THE ECO MINDED. MANY OF OUR DESIGNS PLAY UPON HER ART HISTORY bACKGROUND AND EVOLVE ALONG THE ART DECO STYLE. PSYCHOLOGY IS INTEGRATED INTO THE PHILOSOPHY OF EACH PIECE, STIMULATING THOUGHT AND ENCOURAGING THE VISION OF TECHNOLOGY IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT.

THIS FUSION PROCESS MERGES ASPECTS OF TECHNOLOGY, BOTH HARMONIOUSLY AND OBTUSELY, INTO A HIGH TECH NEW AGE FOLK ART. LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE ART, IT IS EVER EXPANDING LIKE A FRACTAL, MAGNIFYING THE EXPRESSIONS REFLECTED IN THE DEPTH OF THE PIECES.

OUR COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS OVER THE PAST 24 YEARS HAVE ALLOWED US TO MAKE ITEMS RANGING FROM JEWELRY TO SCULPTURE, CLOCKS TO WALL HANGINGS, AND COMMISSIONED WORKS.

WE START WITH THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF TECHNOLOGY AND BREAK THEM DOWN. WE TAKE THE BITS, WHICH COULD BE COMPUTER CHIPS, OPTICS, HARD DRIVE PLATTERS, MEMORY CORES OR AEROSPACE COMPONENTS, ALONG WITH VAPOR DEPOSITION AND SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY, THEN ORCHESTRATE THEM INTO PIECES OF WEARABLE ART. OUR CLOCKS ARE MADE FROM A PLETHORA OF TECHNOLOGIES, APPLIED TO HARD DRIVE PLATTERS AND CD DISKS, EVOLVING THEM INTO PIECES OF ART.

OUR RESOURCES TO EVOLVE OUR ART EXTEND AS FAR BACK AS THE 1940'S, WHEN ELECTRONICS WAS IN ITS INFANCY. FROM ELECTRON TUBES THROUGH TRANSISTORS TO THE FIRST INTEGRATED CIRCUITS, WE EXPAND FURTHER WITH COMPUTER PROCESSORS, NAVIGATIONAL AND AEROSPACE COMPONENTS. WE CAPTURE A CORNUCOPIA OF TECHNOLOGY. SOME OF OUR PIECES SHOW THE TIMELINE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY.

BEING CONSCIOUS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, WE MAKE EVERY POSSIBLE ATTEMPT TO USE RECYCLED MATERIAL IN NOT ONLY OUR ART BUT ALSO OUR PACKAGING AND DISPLAYS. EACH PIECE IS HANDMADE BY THE ARTISTS.