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拍品专文
Completed in 1975, the year before Alexander Calder’s death, Two-Toned Moon embodies the artist’s career-long investigation into color, physics, movement and balance. An exceptional example of Calder’s late oeuvre, the nearly three-foot mobile is both visually and emotionally captivating. In contrast to his colossal outdoor stabiles made of bolted sheet metal, and typical of his late works, this charismatic and intimate mobile contrived of thin bits of sheet metal, wire, and paint reflects Calder’s pursuit of kinetic movement within static material. Through his use of featherweight sheet metal that oscillates from even the lightest breath of air, Calder brings the stagnant sculpture to life and successfully blurs the line between the living and the inanimate.
Anchored by a three-legged black base that culminates into a singular pinnacle, Two-Toned Moon sails visually upwards with momentous velocity. Masterfully dispersed in various directions, the black legs appear to dance beneath the weight of the sculpture. A few feet above the surface, one yellow crescent and six red, yellow, blue and white disks float playfully in the air. Balanced on the base by a thin, red, and slightly curved wire, the disks stand ready to spring into fluttering movement . Two large red disks hang carefully on either side, providing a visual downward balance to the white, yellow and blue disks that reach willfully upwards.
While at first glance the mobile appears stagnant and even two-dimensional, it quickly reveals its dynamism to the viewer. Circumnavigating the mobile, Calder’s exploration of perspective and motion and his love for movement and the circus become abundantly clear. Activated in space by a light breeze or gentle touch, the arms of Two-Tone Moon twist and rotate, providing the viewer with a plethora of new perspectives and imbuing the sculpture with youthful liveliness and gaiety. Seen as a whole, the dynamic base in conjunction with the aerial disks are reminiscent of the movements of an acrobatic performance. The viewer can imagine the performer’s legs dancing wistfully below, the magnetically colorful disks suspended mid-juggle in the air.
At the same time, Two-Tone Moon stands as an ode to the constellations and a reflection of humanity’s place within the cosmos. The yellow crescent to the left recalls childhood memories of storybook illustrations of the moon. The thin wire between the disks hints gently towards drawings of the constellations while also revealing Calder’s interest in the physical bond between various elements. Placed within the context of a dark room lit only be the pale moonlight, the black base disappears from view and the elegantly thin bits of sheet metal and wire reveal themselves as wandering stars twinkling in the night sky.
Anchored by a three-legged black base that culminates into a singular pinnacle, Two-Toned Moon sails visually upwards with momentous velocity. Masterfully dispersed in various directions, the black legs appear to dance beneath the weight of the sculpture. A few feet above the surface, one yellow crescent and six red, yellow, blue and white disks float playfully in the air. Balanced on the base by a thin, red, and slightly curved wire, the disks stand ready to spring into fluttering movement . Two large red disks hang carefully on either side, providing a visual downward balance to the white, yellow and blue disks that reach willfully upwards.
While at first glance the mobile appears stagnant and even two-dimensional, it quickly reveals its dynamism to the viewer. Circumnavigating the mobile, Calder’s exploration of perspective and motion and his love for movement and the circus become abundantly clear. Activated in space by a light breeze or gentle touch, the arms of Two-Tone Moon twist and rotate, providing the viewer with a plethora of new perspectives and imbuing the sculpture with youthful liveliness and gaiety. Seen as a whole, the dynamic base in conjunction with the aerial disks are reminiscent of the movements of an acrobatic performance. The viewer can imagine the performer’s legs dancing wistfully below, the magnetically colorful disks suspended mid-juggle in the air.
At the same time, Two-Tone Moon stands as an ode to the constellations and a reflection of humanity’s place within the cosmos. The yellow crescent to the left recalls childhood memories of storybook illustrations of the moon. The thin wire between the disks hints gently towards drawings of the constellations while also revealing Calder’s interest in the physical bond between various elements. Placed within the context of a dark room lit only be the pale moonlight, the black base disappears from view and the elegantly thin bits of sheet metal and wire reveal themselves as wandering stars twinkling in the night sky.