Kinetic Art

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Over the weekend I’ve been preparing for my trip to Manhattan that is taking place next week. I’ve been reading up on some new artists and refreshing myself on Art History because it makes the gallery and museum experience much more enjoyable when you have some knowledge behind what your looking at.

I came across one of my favorite artists that always seems to capture my attention. Alexander Calder’s mobiles are so fascinating to me and I always seem to stumble upon them in museums. Some really small, some so big they take up the entire entry way like the one in Washington D.C.’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Each of them related with very different personalities. They are always moving ever so softly through the stagnate museum air. Always changing shape and balance prompting me to stop dead in my tracks, mesmerized. Photos in books do these works no justice; they must be witnessed in person in order to fully feel their presents and infinite tango with the shadows.

Calder was really on to something. You can tell the heavy influence of Piet Mondrian, another of my favorites.