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"My fan mail is enormous. Everyone is under six." ~ Alexander Calder

 "To an engineer, good enough means perfect. 
With an artist, there's no such thing as perfect."
~ Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder , 1898-1976, American sculptor, b. Philadelphia; son of a prominent sculptor, Alexander Stirling Calder. Among the most innovative modern sculptors, Calder was trained as a mechanical engineer. In 1930 he went to Paris and was influenced by the art of Mondrian and Miró. In 1932 he exhibited his first brightly colored constellations, called mobiles, consisting of painted cut-out shapes connected by wires and set in motion by wind currents. The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, has several examples. These buoyant inventions and his witty wire portraits, his colorful and complex miniature zoo (1925; Whitney Mus., New York City), and his immobile sculptures known as stabiles, have brought Calder world renown.

Many of his later works are huge, heavy, and delicately balanced mobiles produced for public buildings throughout the world. Calder is also noted for his book illustrations and stage sets. He had studios in Roxbury, Conn., and Paris." (From Infoplease.com)  

Biographies -- General information -- Art:

National Gallery of Art: Calder Virtual Tour (needs Quick Time) This has a picture of Calder with wire "Josephine Baker"-- such a fun image! Includes a section on macquettes -- good  for lesson ideas for kids. You could spend hours "touring" this exhibit.

Alexander Calder Foundation  (Flash intro) Introduction/biography   (to skip intro)  
Calder's life/chronology
  Calder Works (and there is Josephine again!)

Alexander Calder Brief biography from The Guggenheim. Works in the Collection

Alexander Calder - Encarta biography (how to use citation included)    

Alexander Calder Ro Gallery-- prints and biography (there are many art prints resources  on the WWW)

Smithsonian interview with Calder Find out what Calder had to say about Calder.

Kinetic art: 

Kinetic art, term referring to sculptured works that include motion as a significant dimension. The form was pioneered by Marcel Duchamp, Naum Gabo, and Alexander Calder. Kinetic art is either non-mechanical, e.g., Calder's mobiles, or mechanical, e.g., works by Gabo, László Moholy-Nagy, and Jean Tinguely. The latter sort of kineticism developed in response to an increasingly technological culture. Infoplease.com

Alexander Calder  San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Toys, circus, mobiles--more! See all of the art that moves - sculpture in motion.  

See some video clips from Calder's Circus  -- from the Roland Collection. (scroll down to view the video) It was in Paris in 1927 that Calder created the miniature circus celebrated in this film - tiny wire performers, ingeniously articulated to walk tightropes, dance, lift weights and engage in acrobatics in the ring. 

Mobiles:

Mobile, a type of moving sculptural artwork developed by Alexander Calder in 1932 and named by Marcel Duchamp. Often constructed of colored metal pieces connected by wires or rods, the mobile has moving parts that are sensitive to a breeze or light touch; it can be designed to hang from the ceiling or stand free on the floor. Mobiles became popular in the 1950s for interior decoration. Infoplease.com  

Mobile - Alexander Calder from Guggenheim Museum  

Stabiles:

Stabile, an abstract construction that is completely stationary. The form was pioneered by Alexander Calder, and examples were termed stabiles to distinguish them from mobiles, their moving counterparts, also invented by Calder.   Infoplease.com  

Calder Stabile: Four Arches

Alexander Calder- Public Sculpture Four Arches. Other works on this site by Calder include: Big Sail at MIT, Flamingo in Chicago, Le Guichet in New York City, The Hawk for Peace in Berkeley, and Stegosaurus in Hartford, Connecticut. Calder images: Mary Ann Sullivan- Bluffton College

Find out more!

Alexander Calder: American Masters PBS

Artcyclopedia: Alexander Calder on the Net  More links to images on The Web

Mobile Sculpture - Artist inspired by Calder Timothy Rose See the work of contemporary artist Timothy Rose. Timothy Rose has been devoting his life to hanging mobile sculpture for more than 30 years.

Lesson Plans -Teacher Resources

"World on a String" (Calder) - song by Greg Percy -  Songs in the Key of Art Vol. II

Making Mobiles: Alexander Calder Master of Balance ArtsEdge Lesson Plan

Mobile Maker - online interactive from National Gallery of Art. Also try this Flash interactive mobile.

Simple Mobile and Wire Circus from San Diego Museum of Art (pdf file). Lesson contains biographical information, inspirations, and online resources.

Calder Style Mobiles - by Larry Prescott's students, Madison Middle School

          

From Larry: First the wire was purchased at Lowes.  I believe it is called baling wire...it is very cheap (7.95 a roll?)  and a few roles will make 30 to 40 mobiles.  You might be able to find the wire at a farm or ranch store.  Next, I purchased needle nose pliers at Wal-Mart for 2.00 to 3.00 a piece.  Each kid needs a pair of these pliers.  I also purchased some slip joint pliers and side cutters at Wal-Mart for the same price.  These tools are used to make the "jump" connecting rings.  The individual shapes were first cut from a cardboard box and then covered with layers of paper maché to give the shapes more substance.  When dry, the shapes were sanded using an orbital sander.  This produces a product much like balsa wood.  (Note: I have made mobiles like this in the past and have used shoe polish over the dry tempera.  When brushed and polished, the pieces look like carved wood and have a very nice "feel" to t! hem) Next they were painted with tempera paint.  Kids then drilled the holes with an electric drill.  I used an old 2x6 under the pieces when they were being drilled.  Kids who finished the mobiles early were encouraged to experiment with the wire by making sculptures. 
 
I used the video Alexander Calder from the American Masters series.  It was fantastic.  A must see.  My 7th graders were focused the entire time.  I also showed the video Mobiles How to Create Them by Timothy Rose.  I have seen very few good "how to" videos, but this one is an exception.  The middle section of the video is the most valuable.  He gives some good technical advice regarding the construction of mobiles.
 
This was a fun project and the kids enjoyed using actual tools.  One side note...the making of the jump rings (shown in the Rose video became very popular)  Kids made the connection between jump rings and chain mail.  Several kids began to create small pieces of jewelry including gold painted chains...who would guess!  I may use the jewelry diversion as a major area of study next year.
 
 

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