Calder’s Mobiles & Stabiles
Recently, i was asked to contribute to a Girl Scout troop’s education activity on mobiles and stabiles.
I retrieved an abandoned mobile kit project that seems perfect for 10 and 11 year old girls. Colorful on one side, the back side of the parts have been left white for a bit of personalization with writing and/or coloring.
Three colored shapes snap onto arm ends (dot of glue optional). String is cut, tied and adjusted to approximate length, connecting the five sections. For this troop, twelve color prints were mounted on 8-1/2 x 11″ elite flute corrugated cardboard and laser cut. After a short discussion on levers and balance, parts can be punched out and assembled in perhaps half an hour.
drawing of assembled mobile
When viewing Alexander Calder’s stabiles, one might note that he was doing with flat planes as he had done with drawing . . . He considered his work with wire to be drawing in three dimensional space:
. . . and his stabiles to be the unfolding of flat sheet materials into three dimensional space. This is evident in his many models.
image from: Calder, From Model to Monument, Marc Glimcher, 2006, PaceWildenstein p. 17, (original sheet metal maquette, 20 x 18 x 14″)
The .pdf (below) is an approximation of the model (above) and is intended for printing on paper + mounting on chipboard and then cutting -or- laser cutting from chipboard or other foldable sheet material. The parts can be fastened together with a folded piece of wire (as above) or eyelets, small nut & bolt or even glue.
Beginning with the model folded flat, it is unfolded to stand. This simple process demonstrates the kind of transformations Alexander Calder was playing with as he developed his stabiles.
Thanks for your help with the girl scout project for Troop 343! It is so serendipitous to have a mobile genius that lives three doors away! Being inspired by this project, Kaley just checked out mystery fiction book called the Calder Game by Blue Balliett. We’ll let you know how the girls do with the mobile kits you created! Thank you!
Tricia Kearns said this on January 9th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Hi Mel,
This project was absolutely a success! The girls loved their creations (my daughter still has her mobile hanging in her room at home), learned a lot, and completed their badge requirements with your help. One of the girls has a father who works at CSU in the Business Department and her family attended the Grand Opening of the new business wing there. Her mom told me that her daughter remembered that you were the mobile artist for the new sculpture you created there and they admired it and was glad to have a “personal” connection to the art there through girl scouts. Thanks for your willingness to make this project meaningful for the girls in Troop 343!
Tricia said this on September 16th, 2010 at 4:59 pm