Final Report Part 1 – Art Nouveau Mobile

For my main project I created a Mobile in the Art Nouveau Aesthetic, which can be seen in the featured image of this post as well as below.  My main inspiration for this project is the work of Alexander Calder, who pioneered the mobile as a form of kinetic sculpture. His work The S-Shaped Vine shown below, is one of my personal favorites of his, and is what originally inspired me that this style of sculpture could hopefully be adapted to the Art Nouveau aesthetic. I was encouraged by Calder’s Use of both sinuous curves and flower motifs in this piece, both of which are common to the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

My vision for this project was very much focused on making the mobile very Art Nouveau. In order to successfully create a mobile in the Art Nouveau aesthetic there were two main elements that I focused on, the whiplash curve and stylized floral motifs. The “Whiplash Motif” “[is a] decorative motif that has come to define much of Art Nouveau. An ornamental S-curve that writhes and coils, the whiplash is a force of energy that drove the art world into a new Modern era. Derived from studies of the natural world, including deep-sea organisms and botanical gardens, it may seem nothing more than a flowing line, but the whiplash marked a break from the constraints of old-world traditional art forms and heralded the coming of modern design” (Victoria and Albert Museum). A few images that show this motif and inspired my work are shown below, as well as some examples from my mobile that I think did a good job of incorporating this aesthetic. 

The second element, floral motifs, I incorporated in the balancing weights of my piece. Again, shown below are some works that inspired me, the tiffany lamp  and some various jewelry pieces using fine wire work. Along with these inspiration pieces I have shown elements from my mobile that showcase these motifs. 

Overall I am quite happy with how my artifact turned our, attached below is a video of some of the dynamic movement of the sculpture. https://youtube.com/shorts/wp4wOV1T258?feature=share

Sources:

Wikipedia contributors. “Alexander Calder.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Jan. 2025. Web. 18 Mar. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “Tiffany lamp.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Oct. 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “Art Nouveau.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Mar. 2025. Web. 18 Mar. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “Whiplash (decorative art).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Oct. 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2025.

Wikipedia contributors. “Mobile (sculpture).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Feb. 2025. Web. 18 Mar. 2025.

Calder Foundation. “Archive.” Calder Foundation, https://calder.org/archive/all/works/. Accessed 12 March 2025.

Gontar, Cybele. “Art Nouveau.” Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 October 2006, https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/art-nouveau. Accessed 16 March 2025.

Guggenheim New York. “Alexander Calder.” https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/alexander-calder. Accessed 11 March 2025.

National Gallery of Art. “Alexander Calder, Biography.” National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2047.html#biography. Accessed 11 March 2025.

Seattle Art Museum. “Selections from the Shirley Family Calder Collection.” https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/the-shirley-family-calder-collection. Accessed 11 March 2025.

TATE. “Who is Alexander Calder?” TATE, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/alexander-calder-848/who-is-alexander-calder. Accessed 11 March 2025.

Victoria and Albert Museum. “The Whiplash.” V&A, https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-whiplash. Accessed 11 March 2025.

 

Images:

Calder Foundation for all Calder works shown

By Koloman Moser – repro from artbook, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10485214

By Telome4 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14892217

By I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11822242

By Wikipedia Loves Art participant “The_Grotto” – Uploaded from the Wikipedia Loves Art photo pool on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8884149

By Henry Townsend – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3846745

By Henry Townsend – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3846745

By Henry Townsend – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3846745

By Sandra Fauconnier – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75501159

By Philippe Wolfers – KMKG-MRAH, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76671892

By dalbera from Paris, France – Vitrail du hall d’entrée (House for an art lover, Glasgow), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24672238