The Mobile Factory blog is now at Blogger

The Mobile Factory Blog began on Blogger, and while I’ve been mirroring it here for awhile on WordPress I’ve decided that the effort isn’t worth it.

So thanks for visiting and PLEASE continue on to my blogger site to see the new posts on The Mobile Factory Blog!

Link:

http://the-mobile-factory.blogspot.com/

Alexander Calder Flamingo “Travel Edition”

This is a very clever idea by designer Victor Fong – a travelling edition of Calder’s monumental sculpture “Flamingo”   Be sure to check out his website for more images.

Victor Fong – Designer

Design by Victor Fong

A New Calder Gallery

A new Calder gallery has opened at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland. The gallery will feature a series of Calder exhibitions being planned, the first being a tribute to Mary Calder Rower, Calder’s daughter, who passed away last year and bequeathed her 1,000+ piece collection of Calder works to the Calder Foundation.

This video features an interview with Theodora Vischer. the curator of the first exhibition, and Sandy Rower, grandson of Alexander Calder and founder/president of the Calder Foundation.

“Owsley” – Hanging Mobile by Unigami

I’ll Plant My Own Tree

My wife was watching “Valley of the Dolls” (1967) last night on Netflix streaming and started yelling “LOOK!  A MOBILE!!!!”.

This is probably the best scene in the entire movie – watching Susan Hayward standing in the middle of a huge rotating plexiglass hanging mobile singing “I’ll Plant My Own Tree” strangely captivated me like a car spinning out of control for two and a half minutes.

Susan Hayward and the huge hanging mobile in The Valley of the Dolls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, Judy Garland was originally slated to play this part but was fired when she came to work drunk.

T-Shirts

Here’s a couple T-shirts that I made using a stencil and bleach.  If you are interested in the process you can learn how to do it here:


YouTube: How to Bleach a T-shirt

Unigami Logo T-shirt

Psychedelic Mobile Factory Logo

Jennifer Steinkamp

This is an excerpt of a talk given by Jennifer Steinkamp at Otis College.  I became aware of Jennifer’s work after seeing the beautiful tree projection that she did for the Cleveland Clinic.

A new world record for Alexander Calder

Bidding reached record levels last Tuesday (May 9th, 2012) on several Alexander Calder pieces auctioned at Christie’s.  

“Snow Flurry”, selling at $ 10.4 million  dollars set a new record for an auction price on a Calder mobile.

“Snow Flurry” – Alexander Calder

And an 8 ft tall stabile, “Lily of Force” (great name!), estimated to sell around $12 million at most, took in a record $18.6 million dollars – the highest sale ever recorded in an auction for a Calder work.

“Lily of Force” – Alexander Calder

Here is a video showing “Lilly of Force” in all of its beauty:

http://www.christies.com//features/alexander-calder-lily-of-force-2285-3.aspx

And here’s a video showing “Snow Flurry” and another mobile that was auctioned in action: http://youtu.be/T140Ilh2QqE

Hanging Mobile at the Cleveland Clinic

I spotted this interesting hanging mobile at the Cleveland Clinic the other day while visiting a family member who recently had open-heart surgery.


 I searched for a sign giving the artist’s name but couldn’t find it, but fellow mobile maker Julie Frith thinks it is by  Arthur Bauman and I agree…thanks Julie!


 I really like the colors on this one and it fits nicely in this stairwell, but I wish the Clinic had contracted ME to do this mobile and not Mr. Bauman!  


The Clinic is an amazing place – wonderful people work there and the halls are filled with great art work.


Picture is from my cell phone – sorry about the quality.

Kurt Vonnegut

A portrait of Kurt Vonnegut by Alexander Calder