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| A portrait of Kurt Vonnegut by Alexander Calder |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Alexander Calder and Segre's Iron Works
Of all the posts that I've put up on this blog, the most popular by far has been the one about "How I Found Alexander Calder's Roxbury Home". I've received many nice comments about it (thank you, dear readers) but the best of all was a phone call that I received from a wonderful fellow named Bob Hicks.
Bob, who is retired now, told me that he has been a fan of Calder for a long time, and mentioned that my posting about the Roxbury House inspired him to try and find it for himself on a recent trip to Connecticut. It was really fun to hear how he was able to find the house using the maps and information that I posted and to listen to his impressions of what he saw.
We spoke on the phone for quite some time and had a really pleasant conversation about Calder. Bob has traveled all over the world and has seen many Calder sculptures that most of us can only dream of seeing, like the massive "Teodelapio" stabile in Spoleto, Italy (more about that in a future post).
But I was most excited to learn that Bob had visited Segre's Iron Works!
You may be wondering, what is so exciting about a metal-working shop? The answer is that Segre's was responsible for the fabrication of many large Calder stabiles that were created in the Sixties and Seventies, turning Calder's ideas (usually expressed in the form of a "maquette" or small model of the proposed sculpture) into the massive pieces that stand in city squares, colleges, business, and sculpture parks around the county. Bob had seen Segre's when they were actively making Calder sculptures.
Bob explained that he was traveling through Waterbury Connecticut in the late Sixties and was surprised when he suddenly whizzed by what was obviously a large Calder stabile sitting out "in the middle of nowhere". He turned around and went back to find a somewhat mundane looking metal-working shop surrounded by several Calder stabiles in various stages of completion. Amazed by what he was seeing, Bob got out of his car and went into the shop to find out what was going on - and to get permission to take some pictures.
"You have pictures of Segre's Iron Works with Calder's sitting outside?" I asked...
"Yes!" said Bob, "I took quite a few. They are on slides, if you are interested in seeing them I'll dig them out and see if I can make some prints"
"Oh wow" I said, "I would LOVE to see those! Could I post them on my blog?"
"Sure!" said Bob, "give me a couple weeks to get them together and I'll send them to you. You can do whatever you like with them"
And so, here you are. A collection of vintage photos from the late Sixties showing the birth of some of Calder's most famous stabiles: the "Flamingo" just before it was shipped off to Chicago, and "Stegosaurus", which is now at an art museum in Toledo, Ohio.
Many many thanks to Bob Hicks for sharing these great historical photos.
Bob, who is retired now, told me that he has been a fan of Calder for a long time, and mentioned that my posting about the Roxbury House inspired him to try and find it for himself on a recent trip to Connecticut. It was really fun to hear how he was able to find the house using the maps and information that I posted and to listen to his impressions of what he saw.
We spoke on the phone for quite some time and had a really pleasant conversation about Calder. Bob has traveled all over the world and has seen many Calder sculptures that most of us can only dream of seeing, like the massive "Teodelapio" stabile in Spoleto, Italy (more about that in a future post).
But I was most excited to learn that Bob had visited Segre's Iron Works!
You may be wondering, what is so exciting about a metal-working shop? The answer is that Segre's was responsible for the fabrication of many large Calder stabiles that were created in the Sixties and Seventies, turning Calder's ideas (usually expressed in the form of a "maquette" or small model of the proposed sculpture) into the massive pieces that stand in city squares, colleges, business, and sculpture parks around the county. Bob had seen Segre's when they were actively making Calder sculptures.
Bob explained that he was traveling through Waterbury Connecticut in the late Sixties and was surprised when he suddenly whizzed by what was obviously a large Calder stabile sitting out "in the middle of nowhere". He turned around and went back to find a somewhat mundane looking metal-working shop surrounded by several Calder stabiles in various stages of completion. Amazed by what he was seeing, Bob got out of his car and went into the shop to find out what was going on - and to get permission to take some pictures.
"You have pictures of Segre's Iron Works with Calder's sitting outside?" I asked...
"Yes!" said Bob, "I took quite a few. They are on slides, if you are interested in seeing them I'll dig them out and see if I can make some prints"
"Oh wow" I said, "I would LOVE to see those! Could I post them on my blog?"
"Sure!" said Bob, "give me a couple weeks to get them together and I'll send them to you. You can do whatever you like with them"
And so, here you are. A collection of vintage photos from the late Sixties showing the birth of some of Calder's most famous stabiles: the "Flamingo" just before it was shipped off to Chicago, and "Stegosaurus", which is now at an art museum in Toledo, Ohio.
Many many thanks to Bob Hicks for sharing these great historical photos.
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| Approaching Segre's Iron Works - Waterbury, CT - Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| Segre's Iron Works - late 1960's - photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| Front yard at Segre's - Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| Stegosaurus and small Flamingo at Segre's Iron Works - Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| "Flamingo" (full size) - Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
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| Alexander Calder's "Flamingo" at Segre's Iron Works - Photo courtesy of Robert Hicks |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Monday, October 17, 2011
Steve's Desk
I was studying this great photo of Steve Jobs at his desk and noticed this (click for enlarged view)
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| photo by Diana Walker |
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
This is what makes it all worthwhile...
I just finished reading two wonderful emails that I received this morning from some clients, and I feel compelled to say that the best thing about making art is the experience of sharing it and meeting people. There are some really nice people in this world, and I have met many of them through The Mobile Factory. Thank you so much!
Monday, June 13, 2011
The John and Yoko of Modern Art
Today marks the 76th birthday of one of the great artists of our time, Christo Vladimirov Javacheff - more commonly known as "Christo".
I first became aware of Christo back in the late 70's after seeing the wonderful documentary "Running Fence" by the Maysles brothers. If you have no idea who Christo is, I suggest that you begin with this film because it really gives you a sense of what his work is all about. A Christo piece is usually a temporary installation such as a fence, banner, or drape constructed on top of a particular structure or landscape. The sculpture seeks to interact with its environment by hiding certain features while highlighting others, and dynamically changing in response to changes in environmental conditions. Often, these sculptures are quite expansive in size and require careful engineering to be produced.
For example, Running Fence was an 18 foot-high fence constructed of white nylon fabric supported by cables and steel posts that followed 25 miles of hills and valleys in Northern California on its way to the Pacific Ocean. From a distance, the fence caught the rays of the sun throughout the day creating a beautiful ribbon of light running along the contours of the landscape. But the physical sculpture itself, as beautiful as it was, was only one element of the piece. When you watch the documentary, you begin to understand that Christo is really using his art to engage with the public in the broadest possible way; from early concept, through funding and regulatory approvals, design, construction by volunteers, maintenance, and disassembly, you learn that his work is all about how people interact with art and the artist. And when you watch Christo get up in front of an audience of ranchers, city officials, and concerned citizens to defend his project, it is impossible not to fall in love with his energy, sincerity, and dynamic personality. And he looks like an artist should look.
And if that is not enough to make you love Christo, then I will point out that his relationship with Jeanne-Claude, his wife, is one of the greatest love stories in modern art. Born on the exact same day in different countries, they met at the age of 23 when Christo left Bulgaria to live in Paris as a refugee. They met and fell in love, but Jeanne-Claude was engaged to another and her parents did not approve of Christo and insisted that the marriage plans be carried out. They probably did not know that she was already pregnant with Christo's child on the day of the wedding. After only one week, Jeanne-Claude left her new husband and fled back to Christo, never to leave his side until the day she died in 2009. Working as a team, they created some of the most unique, dramatic, and inspirational art of the 20th century.
I first became aware of Christo back in the late 70's after seeing the wonderful documentary "Running Fence" by the Maysles brothers. If you have no idea who Christo is, I suggest that you begin with this film because it really gives you a sense of what his work is all about. A Christo piece is usually a temporary installation such as a fence, banner, or drape constructed on top of a particular structure or landscape. The sculpture seeks to interact with its environment by hiding certain features while highlighting others, and dynamically changing in response to changes in environmental conditions. Often, these sculptures are quite expansive in size and require careful engineering to be produced.
For example, Running Fence was an 18 foot-high fence constructed of white nylon fabric supported by cables and steel posts that followed 25 miles of hills and valleys in Northern California on its way to the Pacific Ocean. From a distance, the fence caught the rays of the sun throughout the day creating a beautiful ribbon of light running along the contours of the landscape. But the physical sculpture itself, as beautiful as it was, was only one element of the piece. When you watch the documentary, you begin to understand that Christo is really using his art to engage with the public in the broadest possible way; from early concept, through funding and regulatory approvals, design, construction by volunteers, maintenance, and disassembly, you learn that his work is all about how people interact with art and the artist. And when you watch Christo get up in front of an audience of ranchers, city officials, and concerned citizens to defend his project, it is impossible not to fall in love with his energy, sincerity, and dynamic personality. And he looks like an artist should look.
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| photo by Wolfgang Volz |
And if that is not enough to make you love Christo, then I will point out that his relationship with Jeanne-Claude, his wife, is one of the greatest love stories in modern art. Born on the exact same day in different countries, they met at the age of 23 when Christo left Bulgaria to live in Paris as a refugee. They met and fell in love, but Jeanne-Claude was engaged to another and her parents did not approve of Christo and insisted that the marriage plans be carried out. They probably did not know that she was already pregnant with Christo's child on the day of the wedding. After only one week, Jeanne-Claude left her new husband and fled back to Christo, never to leave his side until the day she died in 2009. Working as a team, they created some of the most unique, dramatic, and inspirational art of the 20th century.
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| photo by Andy Carvin via Flickr |
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