Back to Basics

I've been struggling for a while with how to take my mobiles to the next level. Ever since I started making mobiles, I have consciously avoided imitating Calder because I believed that I should develop my own unique voice. That led me initially to highly geometric, tightly organized, spare and sparse mobiles. Later, I widened my use of color and introduced playful shapes. Over time, many of my mobiles came to resemble animals -- birds, insects, vaguely humanoid figures -- with some floral elements thrown in. I liked to use shapes that suggested many things at once: flowers were also hands or wings or crowns or mouths with teeth; leaves with holes can double as eyes; crescent moons could also be claws.

Structurally, my mobiles emphasized the vertical over the horizontal. More long than wide, they stood erect instead of floating through the air. In fact, I thought of them more as hanging sculptures than as mobiles, per se. I also kept the number of pieces small (typically less than eight) and spaced them relatively far apart, putting more of the expressive burden on the wires that connected them. Because of this, the mobiles didn't move very flexibly, so I would often attach arms at right angles to each other and pieces at right angles to the arms in order to fill the three dimensions. Finally, in terms of composition, I liked to arrange everything neatly and tastefully, with no loose ends. In other words, each mobile tended to be a self-contained world unto itself, rather than a gesture that reaches into the world around it.

I now see that all of these design choices, although surely reflecting some of my innate sensibilities, were also made while speeding away from Calder's ghost, keeping an eye on the rear view mirror the whole time.



Recently, I have begun to sense the expressive limits of my old way of making mobiles. So, I decided to go back and reacquaint myself with Calder's work. The new mobile shown above and at right (22" H x 26" W) is the first result of this investigation. The color palette is much simplified, the shapes are closer together, and there are many more of them. In particular, there is really only one basic repeated organic shape, and the overall arrangement is horizontal, using the classic Calder "stack" (three of them). Also, the whole mobile is constructed flat (i. e., no explicit right angles), but it moves a lot and is inherently three-dimensional because of the many segments in each section. I am very happy with this experiment, which I see as a starting point for a new line of inquiry.



Mobiles fascinate for the same reason that birds and airplanes do: they defy gravity, they are superhuman, and they lift our spirits. The placement of mobiles above our heads is integral to their artistic effect. Paintings and other wall art are windows, doors, or mirrors, made for looking outside or deep within. In the same way, mobiles draw the gaze upwards like clouds and stars. I have been making earthbound mobiles in an attempt to escape Calder. But Calder knew the true nature of the mobile. He invented the form, but at the same time, he listened to what the form told him. And the art that he created is among the most graceful expressions of wonder and mystery that we have. Calder had complete freedom because he was the first. Now, to move on without him, I need to pretend that I am the first.