MAKE: Blog: Art made with rocket fuel, gunpowder and bullets

Art made with rocket fuel, gunpowder and bullets - Happy 4th of July!

Fourth of July fireworks might seem tame to Matt Stromberg via Gizmodo.

The Savannah College of Art and Design professor of foundation studies and sculpture uses rocket fuel, explosives, pyrotechnics, propellants and munitions to create earth-shattering art. These energetic materials are used to manipulate metal, wood and paper -- using destruction to create art.
Stromberg's creations include sculpted metal panels. He's also used a submachine gun to create pigment-infused solid rocket-fuel paint that is literally shot into stone.

"I think it stems from a long-term interest in energetic materials," Stromberg says. "Recently, with the birth of my daughter, my wife and I were thinking about what we are going to teach her. I want to encourage her to seek out things in life she finds interesting.

"I've always liked energetic materials," he says. "I think the risk-taking is a big part of it, which is probably a key element of being an artist."

Stromberg first began experimenting with energetic materials last year. It's not something for the faint of heart. "I would say it's very dangerous," Stromberg says.

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