Annals of Invention: Thinking in the Rain: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Annals of Invention: Thinking in the Rain: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker: "The Steve Hollinger experience can be described most simply as multimedia. For one thing, it includes olfactory surprises. My apartment was right above Steve’s for several years, and on a regular basis he would call to warn me about odors that might waft their way from the second floor, where he lived, to my apartment on the third. Once in a while, the warning was about something he’d be cooking, but often it was more unexpected; he would call to say that he was going to be using turpentine, or linseed oil, or exotic solvents, or some kind of stinky paint, and wanted to make sure that the smell wouldn’t drive me crazy. Other calls were about surprising noises: “I’m going to be using a table saw to cut up some ammunition boxes, so I hope it’s not too loud,” or “I’m drilling through some chunks of cement, so let me know if it bothers you.”"

I really enjoyed this profile of artist/inventory/sculptor Steve Hollinger, who invented a new type of umbrella. He moves so effortlessly through multiple domains of art and invention that it leaves me breathless and jealous.