Ukrainian artist makes musical instruments from safety matches
It took Senchukov half a year and 27,000 matches to create a unique bass musical instrument.
ZHASHKIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian craftsman Bogdan Senchukov knows how to make music from safety matches. Fifteen real-sized musical instruments by Senchukov now play in what he thinks could be the only match-based music band in the world.
Senchukov’s hobby started at school when a friend suggested to cover a paper ship made by Senchukov with matches.
But his real passion is to build musical instruments with the tiny blocks of wood and then to play them.
"(What I love) is to carve, to glue, to make it hold the shape, to take into account microns of a millimetre and to make it play in the end," Senchukov, 29, told Reuters as he worked on his second violin, a new addition to the band.
"When the instrument plays… I cannot find words to express my feelings when something made of these tiny sticks plays like an ordinary musical instrument does."
It took Senchukov half a year and 27,000 matches to create a unique bass musical instrument in the shape of a trident, Ukraine’s coat of arms, which he now plays in the band.
Apart from musical instruments, he has handcrafted a series of sculptures in minute detail, including a tank from the ‘World of Tanks’ computer game, the Eiffel Tower, an old-fashioned Ford cabriolet, and a motorbike.
He said the most challenging part of his work is when elements require more than 10 hours of continuous effort. For example, a fingerboard for a violin or guitar has to be produced in one sitting, otherwise it will lose its shape.
Another time-consuming process is removing the match heads, but thanks to growing recognition for his art, one Ukrainian factory now provides Senchukov with ready-to-use matchwood.
Senchukov is now collecting documents in a bid to set the Guinness World Record for the biggest collection of musical instruments made of matches and the only match-based music band in the world.
"People often say: ‘Create a grand piano.’ You know, what I want most is to increase the number of musical instruments to create a grand band which will play them. That is what I am aiming for, for improvement in this art," Senchukov said.
