First Jobs
Calder received a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked as an engineer
for a short time but then decided to study painting in New York City. He earned
money by drawing illustrations for newspapers. He drew pictures of the circus
for one paper and also made hundreds of animal drawings at the zoo. You will
recognize Calder's early fascination with the circus and animals in much
of his sculpture.
Calder's Circus
Calder moved to Paris in 1926 to focus on making art. He took drawing classes
and met other young artists there. Calder started making miniature circus animals
and performers (similar to the toys he invented as a child) that could move!
He created a whole circus and put on shows for his friends. These moving
circus characters—made of wire, cork, cloth, and string—were
an early form of the moving sculptures that would later make him famous.
Constellations
Do you ever look in the night sky for constellations—star patterns in
the sky? Calder made "constellation" sculptures. He used wire to
connect balls and wooden objects to form configurations that looked like
stars and planets in space. These sculptures sat on the ground or were attached
to walls. Sometimes they had moving parts driven by electric motors or cranks.
Mobiles
Calder invented a new type of sculpture.
His new works were called mobiles because
they move. Instead of anchoring these three-dimensional works to the ground,
Calder usually suspended them from the ceiling to allow them to float freely
in space. To make a mobile, he attached brightly painted metal shapes to wire,
using trial and error to balance each one. He usually cut natural forms that
looked like leaves and petals rather than hard-edge geometric shapes. Calder's
engineering background came in handy as he experimented with different materials
to balance and build his mobiles. His use of industrial materials—steel,
aluminum, and wire—was new. When Calder's mobiles move with the breeze,
they change shape and cast interesting shadows. Some even "sing" as
their movable parts rub against each other.
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Calder's Mobile-Making Method
"I used to begin with fairly complete drawings, but now I start by cutting
out a lot of shapes...Some I keep because they're pleasing or dynamic.
Some are bits I just happen to find. Then I arrange them, like papier collé,
on a table, and "paint" them—that is, arrange them, with wires
between the pieces if it's to be a mobile, for the overall pattern. Finally
I cut some more of them with my shears, calculating for balance this time."
"I begin at the small ends, then balance in progression until I think
I've found the point of support. This is crucial, as there is only one such
point and it must be right if the object is to hang or pivot freely. I usually
test out this point with strings to make sure before bending the wires. The
size and angle of the shapes and how to use them is a matter of taste and what
you have in mind."
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Stabiles
Calder still made regular sculpture, or "stabiles",
that sits firmly on the ground. Calder's stabiles are huge, bright, sheet-metal
sculptures that are designed to fill city plazas, parks, and sculpture gardens.
He started by making small models, or "maquettes",
of these works. He then worked with engineers and metal workers in factories
to enlarge his models into enormous, finished works of art. One Calder stabile
is 65 feet high!
In the sculpture titled Southern Cross, above, Calder mounted a huge grounded sculpture with orbiting arms hung with his own special shapes!
Calder's Studios
Calder lived in both Connecticut in the United States and in France. In both
locations he kept big, messy studios full of everything he needed to build
sculpture.
Calder's Life Work
Alexander Calder died in 1976 at the age of seventy-eight. He created more
than 16,000 works of art, including drawings, paintings, jewelry, tapestries,
stage sets, mobiles, and stabiles.
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