Les flèches 1976

This object is an undated standing mobile called 'Les flèches', made by Alexander Calder. The primary colors make me think of Miro, maybe Leger, and how their vocabulary got so useful, so fast, for graphics, toys, set design… The shapes in this piece are each one an arrow, or a triangle about to be an arrow. Calder found a way for sculpture to draw in space. It's as if he's drawing the history of modern painting, connecting all the dots (or the arrows). Imagine Calder in his studio. I think it must have felt like an enormous laboratory, but playful and elegant and like no one else's space. I see him gently pushing at the parts, adjusting the balance, trying to make it float. And look at us, still trying to make painting float! But what Calder taught us is that painting can float—we can keep reaching out for that feeling of freedom and possibility.