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Jul 22, 2011

Who Is Alexander Calder and Why Is He Part of a Google Doodle?

Today's Google Doodle is a mesmerizing geometric mobile that slowly spins above the search box. The Doodle commemorates the 113th birthday of Alexander Calder, an American artist and sculptor famous for inventing the mobile sculptures.

Calder was a life-long artist who studied in New York and Paris. As his artistic talent flourished in the early 1930s, he became interested in wire sculpture and kinetic art. These two interests merged to create what would be called "mobiles," a French term that refers to both "motion" and "motive."

Originally these kinetic structures were moved by cranks and pulleys, but Calder developed a delicate touch and harnessed the natural air flow of a room to spin his creations. Calder's largest moving sculpture, a 76-foot-long mobile, hangs from the ceiling of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Calder continued to develop sculptures both large and small, mobile and stationary until his death in 1976 at the age of 78.

6 comments:

GMSoccerPicks said...

I was wondering this exact same thing an hour ago. Thanks for sharing

BigOryx said...

thx for the infos, i was wondering who he was

Shaw said...

Pretty cool

Al3xaG said...

Calder was great

SoreLosersGaming said...

I spent far longer than I should've done messing with that doodle. Felt like a kid afterwards.

AllWiredAdmin said...

Whoa, very cool! Never knew the origins of that!