Calder's Circus

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Alexander Calder (1898-1976) Calder's Circus, 1926-31Mixed media: wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps, 54 x 94 1/4 x 94 1/4 in. (137.2 x 239.4 x 239.4 cm)

Karol's note: Calder is one of my favorite artists. I only learned about his circus creation a few years ago from my friend Susan. Since then, I've read the book about why and how he created it. I'm inspired by his creative vision. Maybe it's because I still feel like a kid at heart oftentimes that this kind of performance art appeals to me. Or maybe it's that he uses everyday objects to create a miniturized version of an iconic American event. Or maybe I don't even need a reason!

Adam Weinberg from the Whitney Museum: Alexander Calder magically breathed life into inanimate objects, using wire and recycled materials to create this army of circus characters. Beginning in 1927, Calder performed the Circus in Paris, New York, and elsewhere. He would issue invitations to his guests, who would sit on makeshift bleachers munching peanuts, just like the real circus. With the crash of cymbals and music from an old gramophone, the circus would begin. Many of the individual circus animals and performers include mechanized parts—Calder was originally trained as a mechanical engineer. It wasn't the tricks or gimmicks of the circus that appealed to Calder, but the dynamic movement of bodies in space. He first went to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey circus in 1925. He was inspired by the mechanics of the circus and made hundreds of drawings of the equipment and the ropes and the guy wires for the tents. Later in his career, Calder turned his attention to more abstract work. In 1930, he visited the studio of artist Piet Mondrian. He was delighted with Mondrian's work, and later recalled, "I thought at the time how fine it would be if everything there moved." He went on to invent the mobile and other works of moving sculpture. http://www.whitney.org/www/american_voices/540/index.html

Alexander Calder (22 July 1898 – 11 November 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry and jewelry. wikipedia.com