Sep 19, 2010
Hello sculptors! On the 5th and 6th of October, I'll be taking you to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see a show of Alexander Calder's art. Before going I want you to watch the video 0f Calder performing his circus. Click here to watch the video and then be sure to post your response. enjoy! (the film was made about 40 years after he first created the circus)
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35 comments:
At first seeing the length of this video and thinking that it is just going to be some old dude playing with wire sculptures, I have to admit that I was not too excited to watch. But after the first 2 minutes of it, I was proved completely wrong. Every aspect of this short film is so interesting and engaging and I'm so glad I watched it. Not only are the sculptures amazingly crafted, but Calder himself is a very funny and charming man. You can't help but be interested in what is going on in his circus. I love the detailed movements of every character and the little things that Calder does to his sculptures that makes this wire circus way more interesting than any real circus.
I was not expecting to see that! At first, when I found out I had to watch a video about man who made sculptures, I thought it was going to be a boring documentary. But I was surprised to see the sculptor interacting with his works, showing the audience all of "talents" the members of his circus possessed. It was very interesting to see how he made each one a different way, so that they were able to do different tricks. I laughed when he, himself, flipped the two guys with the haircuts and made them land on each other. Calder is such a creative person and in the video, he showed that he was having fun himself. It's one thing to be a gifted artist, but another to be gifted AND love what you do. He definitely was the latter.
He's delightful. Calder was able to keep alive and cultivate a child-like joy and playfulness in his work.
I definitely agree with the previous comments- Calder is hilarious! He seems so quirky and I wish he was alive today so I could meet him. Having a sculpture based on the circus seems like an unoriginal idea, but Calder's interpretations of it is something I have never seen before, it was so cool! Also, I definitely have a better appreciation for Calder's work after creating the animal wire sculptures; I could barely make a pig (mine looked like a rabbit) and here's Calder, making objects that not only look really realistic (respectively), but they can also move!! I thought that this was so creative, and he is so talented.
Like previous commenters, I really enjoyed this video! Calder reminds me of a little kid because of his passion and liveliness. The difference is that Calder's work has great quality! Calder was having so much fun during this presentation, and his audience was too! It looked like he put so much effort into the wire sculptures before he actually crafted them because the lines and details are amazing! I really enjoyed how his work is interactive and how he uses different tools and techniques to make his art come to life.
If I could be half as cool as Alexander Calder I'd be satisfied. He has the imagination of about 100 average people put together. And somehow, on his way to becoming an old white-haired fat man, he managed to hold on to that youthfulness. I don't know how he did it but I wish I knew his secret! This video is crazy- I especially like the trapeze artists. I also remember seeing a little carriage he made with a dog weaving in and out of the wheel as it moved, and I remember being awed by that ingenious invention! In art 1 when we were making those little galimoto things, it was all I could do to get the wheel to turn straight. So that definitely made me appreciate Calder's craftmanship. He is the bomb.
While watching Calder play with all of his circus creations, he resembled a little boy playing with old-fashioned wooden toy cars and airplanes - yet he was an old, married man with a head of white hair during the time he created this miniature circus. Although the audience was not visible, just listening to their laughter assured me that I wasn't the only one enjoying Calden's show. Certaintly, the audience was amused and fascinated by the wire structures going back and forth on tightropes and moving about all around but I believe the audience really fed off of Calden's passion and energy for this project. Obviously Calden is an absolute genius not only for his time period but even today, seeing that years later I am assigned a project inspired by his work.
Ohh.. I was kind of creeped out by the beginning. I just expected something to pop out and scare me, but that's unrealistic.. anyways it was just this nice looking old guy. the wire sculptures looked really cool! I really liked the wire horse at the beginning. I imagine that it must have took A LOT of time and effort just for those couple seconds. Such dedication, I can tell he must have really really loved wire sculpture.
I absolutely love this circus; I was afraid that I was going to be let down by this after building up high expectations from reading all the positive comments, but Calder's circus surpassed what I was expecting. Although his sculptures could not function independently, such as with all the electronic toys we had, even as children, his sculptures struck me with awe. It still amazes me that most of his sculptures seem to have simply functioned by him moving wires, which then in turn moved the subject. It was quite a change to see an aged man also be on all-fours and doing these voice-overs for his circus characters, but it shows that Calder really enjoyed working on this circus.
My favorite parts of the short film were when the camera showed Calder making the different voices of his little characters-he was so jolly and made the funniest faces (Check out 4:55-5:01). It really is amazing to know that he made everything in his circus. Like Bella said, I struggled making my turtle out of wire, and that experience gives me a greater appreciation for Calder. Also, it must've been tough to have to bend down for so long to move around his little wire sculptures (he must've had a really good back).
Can we make toys like that :D ok at first when Ms. guizzetti told me about the video i thought it was going to be some old man playing with toys but i was not expecting a well done story. the video quality did burn my eyes a bit but it was ok cause its was a good video :D
Throughout the entire clip I wished I could be sitting right there as Calder demonstrated all his creative circus contraptions. My favorite was when the two miss-fit characters came out carrying the stretcher, but I also really liked the trapeze. I thought it extremely clever how Calder used a pull-string contraption to move the acrobats. Also I wondered about the nature of early twentieth century circuses in France, and if they displayed many horses; seeing that Calder used a fair few horses in his circus.
I am always impressed with the dedication that sculptors have for such little and intricate things because I enjoy working on a larger and quicker scale so much more than, for instance, with little pieces of wire that you have to wind around so many times. I wish that I had their kind of patience, and especially the kind of patience and dedication that Calder had to his sculpture. He is extremely creative and you could just see that he loved what he was doing because it was so extensive and he never hurried any motion of one of his little sculptures. I thought his little rodeo scene with the roping of the cattle was really nice and not something that one would normally think of making. And everything just had so much character because of all of the movements!
Like many other people, I believed that the video was going to be extremely boring but suprisingly it amuzed me. I liked the little toys he had, especiallt the one with horse and the man who jumped on to a horse, and am hoping to do something creative like this during this school year. I have to admit this man is extremely creative and wish i was as creative as him.
I really enjoyed watching this clip. I loved the way the wire figures moved, one of my favorite parts was when the two men came out with the stretcher. Calder is amazingly creative and skilled, I can't wait to see all his creations at the museum!
All i can say to this video is Wow. Calder did so much jus with sculptures: the amount of creativity it took to make these beautiful works of art, is unthinkable...my favorite part was the muscle man. The motion of the wire made his art some how come alive. he is amazing i felt as if i was at a mini circus
Some of my favorite scenes were when the girl got carried off in the stretcher, not so much her getting hit but the stretcher and the guys carrying it. Also I liked how he made it so that the dogs were going in and out of the wheels. At first I was surprised at the length of the video but it wasn't that bad. I really liked the humor and how he created his pieces the way some of them were able to function.
Calder's circus really seemed to come alive. It was interesting to me how much he could do with such simple little pieces. Although, he narrated in French, you could tell how much enthusiasm he had in presenting his circus and how excited he was by his work. I think my favorite part was the wire weightlifter lifting up the weight at about nine minutes in.
Calder's circus was so fun! His little figures are amazing in their movements and configurations. Calder himself was pretty hilarious, and seemed to really know what he was doing with the circus. The way the circus parts moved was unbelievable, and Calder rarely had to alter the performance with his hands. I loved how one of the figues landed in a seated position on the horse (all of the horses in general were awesome), and the bit at the end with the tight-rope swingers (not really sure what they're called) was very cool. Everything seemed to have a personality- very appropriate for a circus
I enjoyed watching this clip!. I was amazed by the way Calder was able to create his functional mini-circus with wire. Looking at the detail of each piece you can tell that Calder truly put his heart into his art. In the video you could see by Calder's expression that he was very passionate about the circus and he loved sharing his passion with whomever viewed his Circus. I really wish I was skilled enough to make and entire mini- Circus out of wire.
Knowing the work of Calder, I was surprised because I have seen his mobiles. Watching his circus made me realize that Calder has made more then just the mobiles that we know him for. While I was watching this video, all I could think of were the wire animals we made in class. Calder can take something so simple and make something so amazing with details and make it into something with its own personality.
when I saw this guy, I immediately thought he looked like someone's drugged-out grandpa. Anyway, the scope of his circus amazed me the most, it seemed to stretch on forever! The music at the very beginning was pretty entertaining!
I saw this video before in art 1,so nothing initially seemed to surprising about his work or what he did with it. But seeing all that previously allowed me to focus more on Calder himself. What stood out to me the most was the sheer joy he got out of his work and that he took none of it to seriously. His excitement for his pieces comes out in his work and makes it so much more enjoyable for the viewer.
i really appreciated how intricate the wire circus was. it was truly amazing how he made everything mobile-i could barely make a turtle that stands up right! he made a whole moving circus. it was also really awesome being able to see first hand some of the wire sculptures at the museum.
I really liked Calder's circus. At first, I thought it would drag on, but all the ways Calder made his animals move and how he interacted with them made it fun to watch! My favorite one was the lion with his trainer and the carriages pulled by the horses. The movements were very realistic for wire sculptures.
The movie was amazing, I enjoyed watching Calder interact with his art it made the viewer excited to continue watching the movie. It was a bit long but as I continued to watch it the time flew because I was immersed into this playful and animated world Calder created. The sculptures were crafted beautifully with each character portraying a specific part in the circus I fell in love with the piece. It made me feel like I was actually at a circus myself. My favorite part of the video was definitely watching the trapeze artists I loved watching them on the high rope. Calder allowed me to see a more playful side of myself because through his artwork he revealed a quirky playful part of himself. I loved watching this movie!
I had difficulty differentiating what was the art, the sculptures or the movie itself. The style the movie took lacked the unique ability that artistic videos of the past of exemplifying a pure uncut moment in time. But considering this is a sculpture class, it is more likely that I am supposed to be commenting on the sculptures. The sculptures seemed to me to be more of a product of engineering than of art; he limited to the finite objects that inhabit circuses and also limited to the finite actions of each object. For me to appreciate art it cannot be finite, it must be infinite so it may be seen through an infinite variety of perception. "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."- William Blake. That quote by another artist epitomizes the issues I have with Cirque Calder, yes it is well made and entertaining, but then again so is bubble wrap. Cirque Calder opens my eyes but not my mind.
i loved the video, the coolest part i think was with the strong man and i will never have a clue how he created the trapeeze artists. im sad i didnt watch this earlier... i loved it though. alex calder seemed so gentle and seriose yet relaxed looking, and when he played with his sculptures he looked like he was a little boy playing with his toys. it was great. i wish i spoke french.
I really enjoyed this video, and now have great appreciation for Calders work. Seeing someone with such enthusiam and passion for his work of Circus creations was really inspiring. Making the wire sculptures in sculpture was very difficult, I can't imagine doing what Calder does, he is truely amazing. This video was really fun and enjoyable I'm glad I got to see all the energy Calder put into this fascinating project.
Ms. Guizzetti. this is victoria jiang from your 7th period class. i made a comment but my name showed up as septicair, my username for stuff.
I enjoyed the video and I feel as though Calder as a boy had incredible fun making such wire sculptures as he did in the video. My favorites were the horses and the cowboy in the beginning.
I liked the circus, actually. I'm not used to actually being interested in videos of art, since I prefer seeing them. But he really cared about his circus people, and that made it fun to watch. Of course most artists care about his work, but he acted as if they were alive, which was really cool to see. I wonder how different the video would have been/ how interested I would've been if someone besides Calder was personifying his puppet people
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