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Yesterday you learned about Alexander Calder, his circus, his stabiles, and his mobiles. Today, try your hand at creating a mobile, just like Calder.
Supplies Needed:
Construction Paper
Scissors
Hole Punch
Thread (or yarn for younger children)
Sticks White Glue
This is a great project for older kids who are learning about weight and balance, though, with a little help, younger children can also enjoy creating mobile art.
Gather your materials. Venture outside to collect some sticks. Look for sticks of different lengths but try to choose slim sticks rather than fat ones. Then choose as many or as few colors of construction paper as you wish.
Cut out shapes from your construction paper. I chose to make rounded forms but you can cut any shapes you want. You can even cut out fish or birds. Punch a hole at the top of each cut out.
Lay your sticks out in the order you plan to tie them. I made only four levels but Calder’s mobiles could be much larger. Often his mobiles had five or more levels. The more levels you create, the more difficult it will be to balance your mobile. I would not make your mobile much larger than mine.
Tie your sticks together. Leave the threads or yarn a little loose so you can slide them along the sticks if you need to adjust later. Next, tie the shapes to the sticks.
Have an adult help you hang your mobile from the ceiling or in a doorway. Your adult helper can also help you fix the balance of all the parts of your mobile. Start at the top of your mobile and work your way down. Slide the top thread back and forth along the uppermost stick until the stick hangs straight. Dab a little glue on the thread to hold it in place. Do the same for the next stick and then the next until all of your sticks hang horizontally.
Enjoy your mobile as it swings and spins with the air currents in your home.
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Alexander Calder invented the mobile. Because of Calder, babies all over the world are lulled to sleep by colorful dangling shapes. Calder also created an entire miniature circus which could be packed into briefcases and carried back and forth between America and Europe. He was certainly a unique artist.
Calder was born in Pennsylvania in 1898. His parents were both artists. His father was a sculptor and his mother painted portraits. They knew it was difficult to earn money as an artist so, though they encouraged Calder to create art, they did not want him to choose to art as a job.
Alexander Calder’s talent could be seen even in his first sculpture, which he created when he was four years old. As he continued to sculpt, Calder became interested in sculpture that moved. He created a duck that rocked when tapped and a train that ran down a track.
He followed his parents’ advice and studied engineering in college. Calder wasn’t happy in any of the jobs he worked after college, though, and decided to become an artist after all.
While he studied at the Artist Students’ League in New York, Calder sketched for the National Police Gazette. One of his assignments marked the beginning with a love and fascination for the circus: he sketched scenes from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Calder moved to Paris in 1926 where he began to build toys that moved. These toys eventually became his own miniature circus. He packed his circus into suitcases and performed in the U.S. and in Europe. You can see a video clip of Cirque Calder at YouTube. Calder seems like quite a character.
Calder’s interest in movable art led him to create mobiles. Air currents caused the mobiles to move. Calder also created sculptures that didn’t move. He called them “stabiles.” Most of them were made out of painted wood or metal. Check out the official Alexander Calder website to see pictures of these mobiles and stabiles.
In 1973 Calder painted a plane for Braniff International Airways. The plane became a “flying canvas.” He painted one more plane and began a third before he died in 1976.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to make your own Calder-inspired mobile!
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