Minimalism meets video games in Whiting’s pixel-based sculptures
Art and machinery have captivated Michael Whiting since he was a young child, when he drew pictures with his father. Inspired by the equipment on his grandfather’s farm in Washington State, Whiting especially liked capturing forklifts. He recalled one time when he was reprimanded by his grandmother for drawing a line on their freshly painted walls along the stairs. But when she saw the little forklift he drew at the end of the wall, she decided to leave it. Throughout high school, Whiting spent his summers in construction, building houses in California. When he first came to the art program at BYU, he thought he would be a painter, but the possibilities for his art soon expanded. “When I took my first sculpture class with Neil Hadlock, it kind of just all came together,” Whiting said. “Combining building things and art — I realized that was the direction I wanted to take.” Read the full article written by Abby Weidmer at art.byu.edu.