This is my second time visiting the Whitney Museum of American Art. My first visit I viewed the Dreamlands exhibit which contained moving art, three-dimensional features, screen projections, and extremely dark rooms. This time I viewed the Calder: Hypermobility exhibit which contained sculptures with a key focus on motion. Some of the sculptures are motorized and others go in motion based on timers. A few are activated at set times by hand.
As I walked around the exhibit I was amazed at the creativity of the mobile sculptures as well as the intent of Calder to have them designed to move. Each piece of art had a certain way of moving. An untitled work of art by Calder (1934) caught my attention in that this noise mobile actually relies on chance in regards to sound or the lack of sound- not only movement. This piece appeared to be constructed with wood and pipes. I thought it was interesting that in this piece the mobile was too large to fit inside the hoop, however, I learned that when in motion there is a collision creating a particular harmonic key.
Another interesting sculpture I viewed was the mobile “Red Sticks.” This caught my eye because when the mobile is in motion X’s are created when the elements pass each other. While in motion, the mobile is almost unrecognizable with each passing moment. “Fish” (1944) is a hanging mobile simply put together with glass, beads, rod, wire, string, and paint. Compared to some of the more elaborately constructed mobiles I found this one to be quite simple yet beautiful.
Overall, this visit to the Whitney was just as enjoyable as the first. Although I do prefer the Dreamlands exhibit, Calder: Hypermobility is a close second. The Dreamlands exhibit was more technologically based and Calder: Hypermobility is similar to other exhibits based on random objects put together to form a work of art- the only difference these works of art were able to move. I would definitely recommend visiting this exhibit before it is no longer at the Whitney.
