Conjuring the acrobatic balance and precarious movement of a tightrope walker, the mobile hangs above the audience of the gallery space, as if referencing the performance of Cirque Calder’s small wire creatures. In a similar sense, the motion of Study for Lobster Trap and Fish Tail is also the result of the natural and the mechanical. Though controlled by both Calder and the mechanisms of his various contraptions, the figures were still subject to natural movement sometimes falling and moving in ways that he had not expected. Maneuvered through the arena by Calder, the wire creatures were lifted and placed in their respective acts. A miniature circus, Cirque Calder is comprised of various characters, namely ringmasters, gymnasts, and animals. Enhancing the interaction between the sculpture and the individual, Calder separates his works from the truly ‘grounded’ practices of traditional sculpture, continuing his interest in the play between natural and mechanical movement.Ĭalder experimented with kinetic forms in his early creation, Cirque Calder. The ability to shape and follow the movements of the mobile is especially delightful for the viewer, rousing a childlike fascination as one watches its frame shake and wiggle. Its motion, sensitive to even the softest blow, resembles the response of the sea to a crossing boat, the activation of the sculpture’s forms echoing the rhythmic stirring of gentle ocean waves. The colors and forms of the sculpture further this evocation of marine life, creating figural allusions to its namesake – a lobster and a fish tail. Turning in its place, the mobile evokes the soft undulations of the ocean floor.
Capturing the motion of the sea, Study for Lobster Trap and Fish Tail floats above the museum space, quietly dancing about the viewer below. Considered a major breakthrough in modern sculpture, Alexander Calder’s most notable mode, the mobile, acts as evidence of his flair for humor and whimsy.
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