Boston Globe Arts feature
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Written by Cate McQuaid Globe Correspondent @cate.mcquaid
Photos by David L. Ryan Globe Staff
Artist Mike Geiger installing "Nature's Solace" in front of the New England Aquarium as part of "Winteractive, Downtown Boston Alliance's public art initiative. DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
Sculptor Mike Geiger lights up “Winteractive” in Boston
WORKING ARTIST | MIKE GEIGER
Mike Geiger lights up ‘Winteractive’ at New England Aquarium
‘I definitely see them as characters,’ the artist says of his two nature-themed sculptures. ‘I feel like I know their personalities.’
By Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent
Updated January 27, 2025, 7:00 a.m.
Mike Geiger is an artist by day, and art is his side gig. He’s supervising director of Nickelodeon’s animated series Rock Paper Scissors and makes public art in his spare time. He has two light sculptures in Winteractive, Downtown Boston Alliance’s public art extravaganza up through March 30.
“I love my day job. It’s the best to be able to be a part of a team to produce something,” Geiger said. “But it also leaves me with a yearning to make something personal.”
He wanted to focus on the environment, but not in a preachy way. “I found a lot of the nature-themed art was pretty heavy-handed,” Geiger said. “I think it’s an important subject, but I wanted to do something a little bit more light and approachable.”
His 6-foot-tall luminous structures made from recycled plastic, Nature’s Glow (on Summer Street) and Nature’s Solace (outside New England Aquarium), shelter beds of flowers and foliage.
“I definitely see them as characters,” Geiger said. “I feel like I know their personalities.” With each work in the series, “the idea is it’s like a spirit guardian that’s taking care of their foliage,” he said.
He sees more of these benign protectors of nature in his future. “Ideally,” he said, “we have families of characters.”
Studio
Geiger works on his sculptures at night and on weekends “wherever I can find space in my home,” he said. “The biggest thing for me as an artist is that the animation industry in America is super struggling right now,” he said. “I don’t know that people outside of the art world understand how intrusive AI is.”
The '“biggest thing” for him as an artist
“The animation industry in America issuper struggling right now,” he said. “I don’t know that people outside of the art worldunderstand how intrusive AI is.”
AI sources what it generates from pre-existing images, texts, and so on. Animation, Geiger said, is “the most clear place to put AI. Like, ‘Oh, we don’t need artists, or writersfor scripts, [or] artists to come up with storyboards.’”
How He Started:
Geiger’s design sensibility was shaped by skateboarding in the 1980s and ’90s. When he was ready for college, his local art school rejected him. “Then my mother called me and said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I signed you up for an animation class on the weekends.’” Geiger said. “I fell in love within the first week.”
That experience got him into Vancouver Film School.
His Process:
To develop his sculptures, he starts with sketches to see what sort of character emerges. Then he imports the drawings into Blender, an open-source software for 3D graphics. Once he finalizes the design, he sends it to a fabricator who works with plastics.
Advice for Artists:
“This is a really tricky question because I have a 9-year-old son who wants to be an artist, and it’s like, well, what’s the future with AI?” Geiger said.
But he still believes: “If you’re passionate about what you do, no matter what the situation, there will be a road for you.”
Cate McQuaid can be reached at catemcquaid@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram @cate.mcquaid.
Artist Mike Geiger installing "Nature's Solace" in front of the New England Aquarium as part of "Winteractive, Downtown Boston Alliance's public art initiative. DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
