WATERLOO - Steve Gerberich sees things a little differently.

The average person looks at an old lawn mower blade and thinks "junk." Sculptor Gerberich envisions it as the toothy jaw of a sea creature.

Battered teapots, nuts, bolts, gears, shocks, sprockets, corbels, faucets, plastic milk crates, toys, light fixtures, Christmas bulbs and old bicycle handlebars - all destined for a landfill - are salvaged and recycled in Gerberich's whimsical, clacking mechanical contraptions.

Ingeniously controlled by pulleys, strings and motors, the sculptures come alive at the press of a button.

Visitors to the Waterloo Center for the Arts and Phelps Youth Pavilion can explore Gerberich's wonderful world of gadgetry in a new exhibit, "The Mechanical Sculptures of Steve Gerberich," now through December.

The extensive collection fills the Riverside Gallery and spills into an upstairs gallery and into the main gallery in the new Youth Pavilion. One of his sculptures is expected to be featured in the Courier's front display window.

Gerberich's interactive displays range from a coffee carafe-bodied dog with bent forks for paws, a pair of skeletal duffers swinging putters and a wooden cow with high-top sneakers being milked incessantly (a cash cow) to an orchestra that plays five tunes, a time machine constructed from thingamabobs, geese with flapping suitcases for wings, even a bowling pin factory.

"Some people look at a bowling pin and it's just a bowling pin. I see an automated factory where bowling pins are made," says Gerberich, explaining his witty mechanical flights of fancy. " I just wanted to explore that and carry it to its conclusion."

He describes it as "analog work for the digital age."

The Iowa-born sculptor is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, with a photography degree. Originally, he moved to New York City to run a photo studio for Meredith Publishing, and then his work begn appearing in large-scale storefront window installations. A fan of all things automated and mechanical as a child, he decided he wanted a moving piece in an installation, so he taught himself how to make things move with pulleys and motors.

For Gerberich, it was a classic "think outside the box" strategy. It lead to the creation of mechanical museum dioramas and large-scale installations in some of New York City's most celebrated department stores, such as Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman.

"The robotics stuff I wanted had to be built from scratch out of necessity. I like the idea of cause and effect, and interaction is key to my work," he explains.

He works out of an former Brooklyn "sweat factory" amidst all manner of mechanicals, appliances, toys, scrap metal and literally thousands of objects. He regularly scouts flea markets, junkyards, garage sales, even dumpsters, prowling for odds and ends to add to his storehouse.

Gerberich, whose work has been feted on CBS "Sunday Morning" and NBC's "The Today Show," along with glowing reviews in such critical publications as Art in America, continues to create window installations in New York City, particularly at the American Museum of Folk Art.

WCA Curator Kent Shankle has been helping with the highly detailed gallery installation. "It's exciting because it's a different way of installing a show and seeing the artist at work rigging together pulleys and strings. I can't wait for the public to come in and experience Steve's work. It's just amazing - and fun. Kids have been peeking in the windows as we're working and you can almost hear their gasps of excitement."

This exhibition of Gerberich's gadgetry has been traveling to museums and art centers for the last seven years. In the meantime, the artist is pursuing a new challenge.

"I want to reinvent myself a little. I'm getting into mechanical abstraction. I've found it a little more freeing to work in the abstract. It's all part of the evolution,'" Gerberich adds.

On the Web:

stevegerberich.com

waterloocenterforthearts.org

Contact Melody Parker at 291-1429 or melody.parker@wcfcourier.com.