I made the commitment to art in 1960 when I was in college,, but it wasn't until a few years after graduation that I became comfortable thinking of myself as an artist. It took a couple of years to get out from under the influence of my teachers, to clear the stink of ancient chalk boards and exam sweat out of my nose. By that time, the middle 1960's, The Viet Nam war was raging. I was living with my wife and toddler son in Detroit's Cass Corridor, a gritty urban jumble of loose pieces, with property values low enough to attract artists. This environment inspired a series of works called "Sidewalkers", wheeled, painted assembled forms based on people, dogs,  vehicles and noises of the street.
Eventually this led to making words of wood and metal and mounting them on wheels to give them mobility and absurdity. Ultimately, they ended in the "ZAP" series, a group of brightly painted, small wheeled onomatopoetic words, like "Zoom" and "Zap" surrounded by more such words, "click" and "puff".
ZAP with Pokketas. 1969

The Zap series was about movement and sound, yet they were still and silent.
I wanted to make something actually move and make audible sounds.
Flying Phallus #2. (1968)
click for more phallic sculpture

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