Re-Purposeful Kinetic Sculpture - Owl Do the Wash

To most people, it’s a rusted saw, a silver spoon, or a discarded doorknob. To Massachusetts artist Judy Hurlburt, it’s the beginning of a sculpture. She wires, screws, and strings these found objects into Re-Purposeful Kinetic Sculptures — one-of-a-kind works of art that catch the wind, come alive with movement, and create gentle, unexpected sounds. Built to live outdoors, each sculpture is made with longevity in mind. Judy seals wood, beads, and other weather-sensitive materials to help them withstand the elements, while leaving the metal components untreated. Rather than fighting rust and patina, she embraces them as part of the sculpture’s ongoing evolution. Own Do the Wash used to be a washboard — corrugated tin, wood frame, the whole scrub-and-suds setup our grandmothers swore by. Now it just hangs there judging you, two hand-painted Russian bowls for eyes under a pair of gilded branch eyebrows, a stainless cake server folded into a feathered beak, and a pair of green pressed-metal wings (formerly a pumpkin, now permanently molting). Its chest is a teardrop of rusted washers, its feet a set of ice tongs clawed like it means business, and out back, three wooden scoops fan into a set of tail feathers. The actual chime hangs lowest: a silver goblet at center, a pair of pinecone clock weights on either side, swinging on chain where the tongs leave off.