Rube Goldberg( 1883-1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, inventor and winner of the 1948 Pultzer prize for Political Cartoon. He is best known for his own initmitable drawing style of aburdist mechanical machines linked together to perform irrelevent activities. Goldberg received widespread newspaper syndication in the U.S .beginning in the 1920’s. In fact, his contraptions of Goldberg Machines are highly artistic creations involving many small sculptures interacting together. It is the relationship among the inanimate and seemingly unrelated small pieces that are the beauty of the ”Goldberg” machines who creation is widespread among engineering faculties worldwide. The mechanical sculptures are often made with re-constituded and recycled materials that find new life an meaning within the complex Goldberg structures.
Certainly Goldberg’s background as sculptor and cartoonist displayed a depth of talent and artistic background. He was in effect a Rennaisance man gifted beyond the visual art he is best known for. He was also skilled as a redio personality as well as essayist, poet and playright. He began drawing cartoons ”Live” as part of a Vaudevile act. His Goldberg machines were to many a wonderful confusion of fantasy and escapism during the beginning of the consumer age of household conveniences and the misery of the Great Depression. In fact, Goldberg held politically Libertarian views and his machines were partly subversive allegories for government being complicated and unworkable; accomplishing very little of substance except for achieving its primary goal of concentrating power and influence among a select few.
Rube Goldberg Sculpture
These cartoons made light of rigid discipline and conventional wisdom and resulted in smear campaigns and threats against his person; The intensity of which motivated Goldberg to change his childrens names to protect them from potential harm.
Goldberg deliberate comedic style
As a child Goldberg was obsessed with line drawing but his parents discouraged artistic outlets and oriented him towards pursuing studies in engineering.Goldberg is well known for his quote ”I don’t know from nothing” and his Goldberg sculptures were in fact something from nothing. It is the ”nothing” that was the inner source of Goldberg’s genius.
Goldberg drew in a deliberate comedic style that was warm, touching and endearing. He influenced and borrowed from the animated cartoonists of the same period such as Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising. Goldberg created a style of fluidity and movement and applied the cinemagraphic story-board approach onto a newspaper form that had been largely wooden and uninspiring to that point.
Critics would assert the Goldberg style to be primitive and populist ,even folksy ,but it betrays the sophistication and effectiveness of Goldberg in achieving the purpose of the cartoon with great efficiency. The Goldberg legacy is alive and debated today due to his innovative style, his warmth and abilities in reconciling the absurd and surreal into some reflections on human identity and a comedic response to the ephemerity of our lives. His influence is present among countless cartoonists among of which are Robert Crumb ( Fritz The Cat) and the early Mad magazines of Harvey Kurtzman through Goldberg’s instauration of movement as a constant element.
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