LA GRANDE VOILE (THE BIG SAIL) 1965

Alexander Calder's *La Grande Voile*, or *The Big Sail*, is made of bolted steel plate. I wonder how Calder felt working on something so big, so monumental? It must be an entirely different ball game from making the little circus figures he's known for. I bet that scale changes everything – you know, when the whole body has to get involved? When you have to yell to be heard? The sculpture stands in a clearing, pointing upwards like it's trying to catch something from the sky. It seems to be gesturing at the sky but also planted on the ground in its circular base. I love that it looks aerodynamic, a strange meeting of industrial form and natural aspiration. When I look at this piece, I think of the constructivists and surrealists. Like them, Calder transformed ordinary materials into something entirely new. Artists don't work in a vacuum; we're all responding to one another's questions across time.