Mobiles / Kinetic Sculpture
Matthew Brand
These kinetic sculptures are about the dynamicism of animal bodies. Mobiles
as an art form have degenerated into abstract trifles, perhaps because
nobody has figured out how to make representational mobiles, or there have
been no innovations since Calder decided he wanted to sculpt space rather
than form. New techniques make it possible to create kinetic sculptures
that are essays on living forms and movements. The pieces below are fully
articulated mobiles/stabiles that swim, twist, bite and shimmy in the
breeze just like their real-life counterparts. Enjoy!
- Materials: solid brass, some with copper, rubber, or patina detail.
- Size: 1-5'; some are maquettes for large steel (4-20') & composite (10-50') pieces.
- Viewing:
Title links lead to blowup images; secondary links lead to movies & related images. More hints at the bottom of this page.
- Comments & inquiries are welcome.
Unhorsed, ~1.5', with a computer
Fish out of water, ~3', a fountain
Seahorse, ~1.5'
Chinese delicacy, ~1.5', a Fish closeup
Marlin, ~4'
Self-playing cello, ~1.5'
Galatea declines, ~5'
Elephant dexterity, ~4'
Strut, ~1.5'
Pressed duck, ~2.5', in sympathy to a fossil
Raptor, ~2.5', ***
Bull #2, ~2', ***
Baying, ~1.5'
Bryonia alba, ~2.5', after Bloßfeldt
These pages display best in
big windows with HTML3-ready viewers such as Netscape 1.1.
Most images are smaller than 10K; most movies (MPEG-format)
are smaller than 250K. All pages © 1994-5. Please do not use images
without permission. Enjoy!
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Matthew Brand / MIT
Media Lab / brand@media.mit.edu