1 RED, 4 BLACK PLUS X WHITE 1947

Editor: Okay, next up is Alexander Calder's "1 RED, 4 BLACK PLUS X WHITE" from 1947. It’s made of metal, a hanging mobile. The name feels a bit… literal, but I get a sense of playfulness, almost childlike wonder from it. The balance seems precarious. What do you make of it? Curator: Oh, Calder. He was a master of turning geometry into poetry, wasn't he? I like your 'literal' observation; sometimes art doesn't need to overcomplicate things, does it? For me, I look at this and think, “here’s the universe in miniature.” Each shape is a planet, a thought, a feeling...constantly in motion, nudging against each other, but somehow finding equilibrium. I find it sort of whimsical, yes, but also deeply philosophical. Don't you feel that the color composition guides the eye to find some structure, as well? Editor: I do. The single red element draws me in. It gives the eye a place to rest before tracing the composition outwards to all of those whites and blacks. I hadn't thought of it as the universe, but that makes perfect sense. So, are you saying he's trying to capture… chaos and order at the same time? Curator: Exactly! And isn't that life itself? That dance between the random and the deliberate, the chaotic and the ordered? He’s distilled that down to these elegant, floating shapes. And let’s be real, who doesn't want a little kinetic art hanging above their couch, right? Editor: Definitely! It makes me think differently about abstract art now. It isn’t just colours and shapes; it's a whole story if you look closely. Curator: Absolutely! It invites your unique reflection, I think that Calder would have wanted his work to be viewed in that manner. Each viewer then will see a slightly different mobile. Isn't that wonderful?