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Singer Bob Dylan Sparks Interest in Welding, Inspired by His Childhood
Old gardening tools, horseshoes, chains, and vintage metal scraps are some of the materials that have been welded together by American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan. The 79-year-old – widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time – has once again proven that age is no barrier, as he welds his own metal sculptures in his Los Angeles workshop. Dylan has strong links to iron and metalworks, after growing up in Minnesota’s ‘Iron Range’. In 2013, his welded gates collection was put on display at the London Halcyon Gallery for a free public exhibition.
Since he signed his first recording contract 60 years ago, Dylan has showed no signs of slowing down.
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He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and has won 12 Grammy Awards from 27 nominations. He was also the first musician to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 2016.
His early influences in the music industry included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard. From a young age the singer formed his own bands, like Golden Chords, which played at local community talent contests. Last year, he scored his first number one song on the Billboard charts for ‘Murder Most Foul’, about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
But the musician’s childhood origins have also sparked an interest and inspiration in welding works. The music legend grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, a city built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range – the largest open pit iron mine in the world.
Dylan said he was exposed to iron ore and welding from an incredibly young age.
“I’ve been around iron all my life, ever since I was a kid. I was born and raised in iron ore country— where you could breathe it and smell it every day. And I’ve always worked with it in one form or another,” he said.
In Hibbing, Dylan heard the rumbles of machinery, and saw the huge workforce travelling to and from the mines each day. It was the raw materials being transformed into large infrastructure outputs that left a permanent stamp on the youngster.
Inspired by his industrial past and childhood, Dylan has spent the last 35 years working up a metalwork series for his close family and friends. Gates are the centrepiece of Dylan’s welded works. “Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow,” Dylan said.
“They can shut you out or shut you in. And in some ways there is no difference.”
Dylan’s gates are made from scrap metals and other loose items like spanners, wrenches, car parts, axes, shovels, springs, and chains. Each gate is carefully designed and created – some feature musical touches, like a guitar or a treble clef, while others take on a unique identity of their own.
But each metal gate includes a small metal buffalo, and is marked with ‘Black Buffalo Iron Works’, and Dylan’s signature. Each gate allows people to see what lies beyond, but still serves as a visual barrier – a juxtaposition between the artist’s childhood in a town of working class people, and his desire to move forward.
Dylan’s Welded Works on Display In 2013, Dylan put his metal gates and other creations on show at the London Halcyon Gallery.
The free two-month exhibition, titled ‘Mood Swings’, showcased seven of Dylan’s large metal structures. They were accompanied by images of the music icon using everyday welding tools and wearing protective equipment.
The Halcyon Gallery’s President, Paul Green, said the exhibition gave the public an opportunity to see Dylan’s other creative interests.
“While Dylan has been a committed visual artist for more than four decades, this exhibition cast new light on one of the world’s most important and influential cultural figures of our time.”
Dylan heavily drew on his own childhood memories in Minnesota to bring the welded gates to life.
“He’s drawing from an industrial past, a working man’s past,” Green said.
“It’s partly about looking back but it’s also about resurrecting these items and the physical act of putting these objects together.”
Green had the chance to visit Dylan’s studio in Los Angeles, where the songwriter stores a range of different metals. Green was initially surprised, “I didn’t know he [Dylan] was sculpting things.”
“Dylan designs the works and decides which objects will be used. He does some welding himself and has one or two people to help him but he is intimately involved in the whole process,” Green said.
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Dylan’s gates sparked new conversations for exhibition visitors, as they touched, inspected, and examined his welded creations. The largest gate – around 171cm high and 156cm wide – sold for around $500,000. All gates were sold on the first day of the exhibition’s opening.
The Mood Swings exhibition is not the first time Dylan has put his creative side on show. In 2007, the Drawn Blank Series featured 2,000 watercolours, gouaches and original drawings in Germany. The works were based on Dylan’s sketches, drawn while he was on tour.
The MGM National Harbour casino resort in Maryland, just outside of Washington DC, also permanently features one of Dylan’s gate. The 7.9m by 4.5m gate, ‘Portal’, was commissioned by the resort to welcome guests and frame the entrance of the resort. The gate includes a range of gears, spanners, tools, and cogs, which are welded into the hotel’s signature entrance.
Jim Murren, the Chair and Chief Executive Officer at MGM Resorts International, said he was proud to house Dylan’s work.
“Mr Dylan is undoubtedly one of the greatest musicians of our time, but his incredible metalwork sculptures are a testament to his creative genius and ability to transcend mediums.”
“As a company founded upon entertainment, we’re truly inspired by artists who channel their energy into diverse paths. We’re proud to collaborate with Mr Dylan and bring his vision to MGM National Harbour’s Heritage Collection in a way that enhances this sensory resort experience.”
Fans Spot Welded Past in Music Dylan’s hardcore fans have noticed references to his welding interests in his music. In 1978, he was quoted in the Minnesota Times that when he returns home, he likes to “blast sculpture out of metal”. This interest comes in addition to some of his other hobbies, like fishing.
Fans have also made parallels between Dylan’s collection of welding works, and his discography. In Dylan’s 1965 smash hit ‘Gates of Eden’, he describes the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Similarly, in his 1974 song ‘Never Say Goodbye’, Dylan sang “my dreams are made of iron and steel.”
In his 1997 song ‘Not Dark Yet’, Dylan also sings “feel like my soul has turned into steel,” in the opening lines.
While some fans may be seeking further details about his collection of welded works, his music has always tended to fuse together different genres to make a harmonious tune.
References • https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-24955933 • https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-24229623 • https://www.packagingstrategies.com/articles/94702-bobdylan-writing-welding-and-whiskey • https://www.nme.com/news/music/bob-dylan-59-1249307 • https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/ bob-dylan-musician-by-day-iron-welder-by-night/ article15514074/ • https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylanto-unveil-enormous-iron-archway-in-maryland-122797/ Since he signed his first recording contract 60 years
