maquette for Fourth Financial Center, Wichita, KS, Alexander Calder

How often do you notice something significant every day? We are absorbed In our own worlds, constantly Rushing. It’s easy to overlook what seems to be prosaic and unimportant. At first glance, you wouldn’t notice this piece Called the Maquette for Fourth Financial Center, it hangs conveniently Above eye view, Who would see it if they don’t look up? What would many think there is to see? Is this truly art? Formed of Simple steel and aluminum shapes, hanging on thin Silvery, strips of metal? To many, art is a grand thing, Detailed sculptures and paintings, Splashes of color, fine workmanship, A spectacular film, abstract works, not really Sheets of metal hanging in the air. A maquette is a rough draft, A preliminary model of a larger work. This one was created in 1973, but the final version Eléments Démontables Erected at 1975 Shortly before the artist’s death. Colorful and playful, certainly more impressive Lasting into futurity in The Wichita Fourth Financial Center. The two pieces themselves are Completely different Evolutions of each other How could this a maquette emulate that monumental sculpture? Who can tell? The name of the artist may Interest some of you. Alexander Calder. Born into a family of artists, but graduated as A mechanical engineer, Drifting back into art and best known for his invention of Mobiles and stabiles. Many people comment on the Clear-cut balance and playfulness in his artwork Especially his mobiles. Delicate balance combining sturdiness shows Emphasis on his engineering background With that said I am convinced that this maquette can stand its own as a work of art Without a famous name to support it. A closer look showed me Layers. Deeper meanings. The nature of it shows Freedom Swaying in any which way Catching the wind. Light plays Reflected and bouncing shards of White-looking, bright light Scintillating Projecting What is this meant to reflect? The lightness in our world? Two different shadows of the maquette Ghost the walls of the museum. Bold and pale Same and not Still. Expansion and illusion, perhaps showing There is more than one side to anything So look How is it connected? Perhaps aptly showing the shadows and glimmering lights Of human nature. There are hints of nature Imbedded in this piece The sheets of metal are leaves Reaching From slender metal-strip branches. Forks spreading out Could that show another aspect of life? Life can be built And also walked upon Like a path. Branches and forks, to me, represent Paths you can walk over the years. Outwardly, the geometric, quadrilateral shapes of metal also Match, Coming together, Like familiar pieces of a puzzle. The wind always changes. We cannot see pure wind Only through the aid of nature. Swaying in the air Mobiles maintain perfect balance. I feel this shows another side Of life. Life is wind Ever changing Gentle breaths at one moment Hurricane-fierce at another. I think, The world is like the mobile. Thrown about by life Adapting to the currents and the movements Maintaining balance, however Tossed and turned it is. A picture of time In a broader sense. Ever changing Different one moment from the next But yet the same. To me this mobile (every mobile) represents art’s essence. Through movements We can see the wind. Art is what shows us What we cannot see. Things in life In the world In our emotions. A form of thought Explaining what cannot be completely explained in words. (This is Christina Lee, with another Bulldog Podcast.)