Gamma

1947
Alexander Calder, 1898-1976

Sheet metal, wire, and paint, 58 x 84 x 36 in., Promised gift of Jon and Mary Shirley, Photo courtesy of Calder Foundation, New York / Art Resource, New York.

In his 1951 statement “What Abstract Art Means to Me,” Calder described “the underlying sense of form” in his artworks as “the idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures,” which do not represent aspects of the observable universe but rather his intuitive understanding of these universal forces and principles.

Gamma invites us to consider these “detached bodies” and the energies interacting with them, such as gravity or air currents in the room. The mobile’s oscillations are at once fluid and unpredictable; even when appearing at rest, its wires hum with kinetic possibility. The asymmetrical sides remain balanced while moving, yet every motion alters the relationships between individual components, transforming the sculpture with each turn. As the mobile spins languidly through the air, its shadows stretch across the nearby wall. Their shapes become distorted as they follow Gamma’s path through the vectors of space and time, magnifying the sculpture’s otherwise subtle movements.