ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was a very talented artist who made sculptures, which are like 3D artworks that you can touch and see from all sides. But his sculptures were not like normal ones you might see in a museum. Instead, they were very special because they could actually move!

Imagine you have a toy mobile hanging from the ceiling in your room. It has different shapes hanging from strings, like animals or stars. When there is a breeze in the room, these shapes can gently sway and move. Well, Alexander Calder's sculptures were like really big, fancy versions of these mobiles!

He used all kinds of materials to make his sculptures. Sometimes he used metal, like aluminum or steel, and other times he used wire or wood. He would bend and shape these materials into different forms and then make them balance, so they could move easily.

It's kind of like when you stack blocks on top of each other, you want to make sure they don't fall down. Calder did the same thing with different shapes and forms, but instead of just stacking them, he attached them together in a way that they could move and balance.

Calder's sculptures were not just stationary and boring, they were full of life! Some of them were really big and he would install them in public places like parks or plazas. People could walk around them and see them from different angles. And when the wind blew, the sculptures would start moving, creating a magical and mesmerizing sight.

He called these sculptures "mobiles," which is a funny word because it sounds like it should mean something you can carry around with you. But in this case, "mobiles" means something that can move freely in the air.

Alexander Calder also made another type of sculpture called "stabiles." These were like the opposite of mobiles. Instead of hanging from strings and moving, they were big and heavy and stood on the ground or were fixed to a wall. They didn't move, but they still had interesting shapes and colors.

People loved Calder's artworks because they were so unique and different. They were not like paintings that you hang on a wall or statues that just stay still. They were like magical objects that could dance with the wind or stand tall and proud.

Calder's sculptures were admired all over the world, and he became one of the most famous artists of his time. Even though he passed away a long time ago, his artworks are still loved and appreciated by many people today.