Critical Understanding of the Sculptural Art of Alexander Calder

Calder was an American sculptor from Pennsylvania. His father, Alexander Stirling Calder was a sculptor and his mother a painter. Him and his family were constantly on the move around the country throughout Calder’s childhood due to his dads work. And through this Calder was encouraged to create and express, from a young age always having a workshop around him.

Despite his upbringing and aptitude in art, Calder did not originally set out to become an artist, however this changed when he was on a boat trip towards San Francisco when he experienced an amazing sunrise, paired with a defined, clear full moon. It was this moment that inspired him to reconnect with his artistic background and pursue an artistic career not long after. Nearing the end of 1931 one of the most important and drastic turning points in his artistic career occurred, he created his first kinetic sculpture, this gave birth to a completely new form of sculpture. These early sculptures mostly moved by motors; Marcel Duchamp then named these ‘mobiles’. Which in French means, 'motion' and 'motive.' Calder soon left the mechanical aspects of these works for more autonomous mobiles that would move on their own with nothing but the energy of the air.

It is these hanging sculptures that began here is most well-known for. These wire sculptures and unique mobile sculptures are a unique kinetic art which depend on vigilant weighting and balance to suspend and move in the air. It is these sculptures that have grabbed my attention due to their attention to energy and movement, a theme close to my own. Calder’s work is distinctive, each sculpture perfectly balanced and counterbalanced creating an elegant display of motion. It’s this kinetic art in motion which is why Calder’s work is so relevant to my own.

This artwork is called “Antenna with Red and Blue Dots”. It was created in 1960 and is a part of Calder’s mobile series. Calder studied mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. I believe it is his studying of engineering, which enabled him to have such an advanced mechanical understanding and his artistic background through his family which enabled him to create the elegant, and exceedingly unique mobiles such as this one. This sculpture is essentially a machine, consisting of moving parts and joints, created through critical engineering understanding. His understanding of the science of balance is of great importance to the impressive composition of this piece. However, it is his ability to take this underlying understanding of physics, set it to the side and let his artistic aptitude form this sculpture.

In trying to understand what makes this sculpture so impactful I keep picturing this sculpture as a strange, outlandish skeletal figure. The dark, suspended ‘paddles’ balancing along long, bone like structures outline an alien like figure. The smaller, coloured dots antennas of light, similar to those on fish found deep in the abyss of the sea. The joints moving through negative space, hunting through the air. The sections of this sculpture tentatively spread through this negative space provided by the white background. And while this sculpture is so elegantly balanced the ‘antennas’ seem to have a hidden erratic energy, contained but ready to let loose. This negative, white space helps create a sense of unadorned mystery and helps drive the message of this artwork, the intricacies of space and motion.

This sculpture, along with much of his other work was and is so important to abstract sculptures. The expert combination of balance and dynamic mobility found in this work makes this piece a definitive display of futurism, the capturing of the dynamic energy of the modern world. This piece of art is as much machine as it is a sculpture, and this has such interesting and relevant connotations to our own current world. With the fear of the unknown sway technology and machines could have on our lives. Not just the devices we use to make phone calls and check the internet, but also the ever-growing concern over the impact AI and machines could have on our future.

In conclusion, I think Calder’s “Antenna with Red and Blue Dots” is a skilfully created machine which demonstrates both the complexity of balance and energy and movement of both nature and machine.