The human side of art
Walking through the National Gallery of Art the other day, I was lucky enough to catch this shot of a man repairing the iconic Calder mobile in the lobby:
I’ve always enjoyed Calder (at Storm King Art Center, especially, but also the more intimate Calder’s Circus), but this was revealing on several levels. Of course, you get to see the scale of the work in a way that looking up at the ceiling only partially conveys. But to see that fin/scale piece up close, and to see its shape, and the connective tissue to the rest of the piece, makes you appreciate the elegance of the shape and how perfect it is. It’s also cool to see the guy using nylon thread to stabilize the mobile (pardon the pun). . .
Nice reminder that even the highest art (another!) is craft, artifact, and human.