National Gallery of Art. Alexander Calder mobile. Photo by Paul Goldfinger © 1994
Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was the son and grandson of famous sculptors. He developed the idea of a mobile—a kinetic sculpture. His last work (see above) weighs 920 pounds and is 76 feet long. It hangs in the East Building atrium of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was installed in 1977, one year after he died.
Below is a time lapse video where the mobile moves slowly and beautifully, but with unpredictable deliberation. You can listen to the music that comes with the video, or mute it and play Wynton Marsalis (below on trumpet) performing a lovely jazz version of Rodger and Hart’s “Where or When” while you watch the You Tube video.
The beautiful Rodgers’ melody seems to float along synchronized to the mobile’s graceful motion.
on a tangent…one of the better lunch spots in the Smithsonian system is under that mobile in the basement. Instead of typical fast food, there’s a salad bar by the pound with lots of fresh stuff, plus a Mediterranean bar with humus, stuffed grape leaves, etc. It’s the best bet for gluten-intolerant.
Paul, What wonderful music! So much so that after I had heard the Marsalis trumpet rendition of Where or When on my iPad earlier I wanted an encore while on my laptop reading emails. Much to my surprise instead of a trumpet solo I listened to a beautiful slow vocal version. Harry Connick, I think. How did you do that?
Ken
Thanks Ken. I always loved that song, too. The Harry Connick version is from “When Harry Met Sally” and, so everyone can enjoy it, I will post it also. (ps The Connick version was an accident during my preparing this post. Somehow it got stuck on your computer before I changed to Wynton’s instrumental)