A Fascination with Mobiles
Am I the only one who loves mobiles? They are so cool. And my main man
Alexander Calder invented them in the 30’s.
A third generation sculptor from Philly, Calder moved to Paris in the 20’s to set up shop on Rue something (sorry, family joke), actually 22 Rue Daguerre in the Montparnasse Quarter.
His career included the creation of
massive sculptures, paintings, lithographs, toys, jewelry and tapestry, but he is most famous for his mobiles. In the 1920’s, leveraging his background in mathematics and engineering, Calder started experimenting with lighter objects including
bent wire that were put in motion with currents of air. The mobile was born.
Earlier in the states, as a boy, he seemed drawn to kinetic sculpture, and created several objects that seemed a vector for the career he would create later in life.
I am interested in his work, and in kinetic sculpture in general, from a ModHome perspective, because
we would love to bring art into the collection we are designing, and the forms Calder created are so Modern, organic, playful, sometimes colorful – basically, they represent so much of what I would like to create in ModHome. As art lovers, we aspire raise the bar on home fashion to “
the art you live in.”
The pictures that follow are mainly his mobiles, but include some examples of his other work.
Hope you enjoy.
Shine on!
Braxton
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| Calder and his creation |
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| Calder Mobile |
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| Calder large scale kinetic sculpture |
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| Playful |
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| Calder circus. He traveled with this concept, with kinetc performances that would fit in a suitcase - eventually 5 suitcases |
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| Calder glass sculpture |
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| Wire sculpture by Calder. I love the shadowplay here. Playful, even comical construction |
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| Classic Calder Mobile - very Mod! |
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| Calder painting |
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| Great bright colors! |
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| Another shot of the Calder Circus - performed on both sides of the Atlantic |
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| Love the swag of this mobile, counterweight creates almost a lazy exclamation mark |
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| Love Calder's wire form sculpture. We saw some of his faces in Paris in the Pompidou |
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| Calder mobile with 2 gongs - note how the wires with ball tips swing into the gongs |
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| Balancing floor sculpture |
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| Love this. Hen house poster in daughter's dorm. When you lift tail, cow drops a pie. Very appropriate art in the WC :) |
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| Calder stabile - aka a stable mobile. During WWII when metal was scarce, he sculpted wood |
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| Got to see the exhibit at the Smithsonian March 11 through August 14, 2011. Road trip! |
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| My Main Mobile Man showng us "The Smolder"- a babe melting look he perfected in Paris - Well done my Friend! |
3 comments:
I love mobiles.
cool pics!
those wire faces are wild. i saw some at SFMOMA a few years back when there was had a calder exhibit there. they kind of remind me of a 3d john lennon drawing.
what struck me was how the faces look so different depending on the angle you're viewing them at.
LOVE his wire faces. Saw some in Paris years ago at the Pampidou and they were wonderful - 3D pencil drawings exactly! Shine On! Brax
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