Monday, November 29, 2010

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder is a prominent American artist, who is famous for making sculpture and jewelry. He is also the inventor of the mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture constructed to take advantages of the principle of equilibrium. In Patrick Benesh Liu’s article,” Alexander Calder: The Art of Perpetual Motion”, the author introduces Alexander Calder to us. According to Patrick, Alexander is inspired by people in different parts of the world; he uses unconventional methods and materials to make his jewelries and sculptures;his lack of fear for beginning over again leads to his creativity and prolific work.

Alexander Calder takes benefit from the development in the communication in modern world. The accessibility of world travelling enables people to exchange ideas in a larger scale. It was through this development that the Modernist movement was founded and flourished. Inspired by people from different places in the world, Alexander Calder also found his artistic birth in this atmosphere. When Calder was introduced to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, he was impressed by them and said, “ It wasn’t the daringness of the performers, nor the tricks or gimmicks; it was the fantastic balance in motion that the performers exhibited.” He then decided to produced something that could move, and made the Cirque Calder, which was a circus made by wire, wood, etc. When Alexander Calder travelled to Paris, he met with a toymaker and was encouraged into toy production. It was in Paris that Alexander Calder made his first kinetic objects, which laid a great foundation for his success in producing the mobile. Without this two inspirations, Calder may not be able to invent the mobiles.

Calder’s piece has an innocent and playful nature. We can see the spontaneity and boldness in his work. In many cases, the artisans’ imagination is bounded by the practicality of the work. In order to make a living, the artisans often have to consider about the needs of their customers and make something that people would buy. Calder, however, is famous for his independence of this tendency; he only produces what he likes. Sometimes, he even produces pieces that completely different from what his clients request.

Calder does not use the traditional materials to make the jewelry. He used metal instead of gem; the author suggests that this may be Calder’s reaction against the high-cost components in making jewelries. Calder may want to make personal adornment viable to the public at large. Even though most of Calder’s pieces are made by metal, people would never feel boring about his work. Calder is concerned about the form and shape of his pieces and his work has great variety in forms. However, sometimes the form and shape of the jewelry make it hard for people to wear.

Calder is a prolific artist, which according to the author, is partly the result of Calder’s willingness to ignore the fear of failure. Calder produced over eighteen hundred jewelries and several thousand mobiles. He is willing to try different kinds of style and is not afraid about failure. He does not want to repeat himself. In several cases, he refuses to replicate a popular design, despite of its large demand.

From the descriptions of Calder in the article, we find that Alexander Calder is an independent thinker. He does not care about what others think about him, nor does he follows the majority. He only products artwork that he likes and is not afraid about failure; maybe this is the reason why he becomes such a successful artist.


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