“Rinse & Repeat” – “Hike The Lake” by Marco Mahler

Brown University’s Fusion Dance Company’s Spring Show – Music by Marco Mahler

Fusion Dance Company’s 29th Annual Spring Show
March 9-11, 2012
Brown University, Providence RI

Choreographed by Michelle Le
“Hike The Lake” by Marco Mahler
Sarah Cho, Cameron Donald, Hannah Duron, Sarah Friedland, Michelle Le, Elise Miller, Rory Macfarlane, Anthony Rivera

Mobile 87 as Baby Mobile or Crib Mobile

I received the photo on the left from a happy customer the other day showing Mobile 87 as a baby mobile or crib mobile. The photo on the right shows what Henry is seeing. All five parts of this mobile can rotate independently full circle, which captivates especially small children’s attention. We have one of these hanging in our house and our kids love to give it a push and watch it spin. If you’re interested, they’re available through my shop.

Original Calder Mobile For Sale

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auction on March 9th 2012 will include an original Alexander Calder mobile. Made with painted metal and wire in circa 1973, the same year he made the impressive, large (53 foot/16 m tall) Flamingo sculpture in Chicago (pictured below). The hanging mobile is almost one cubic foot big and signed, it is estimated to go for 200,000 to 300,000 USD [Update March 10th: it sold for 422,500 USD]. If you’re looking for a more affordable modern art mobile, consider the ones in my shop (like the three below), or contact me for a custom mobile.

What wire to use to make a hanging mobile and where to buy it

I get an email once in a while asking what kind of wire I suggest to use to make a hanging mobile and where to buy it. I just got one again and I figured I’ll just turn it into a post on my blog here.

Most of the time I use galvanized wire which you can get at most hardware stores. It usually comes in a roll (see image below), usually 100 feet long and costs around $6 a roll. Two tips: if you can’t find it in the regular hardware section: sometimes hardware stores have wire in the dropped ceiling section and I’ve also seen wire sold in the household section as clothing line. If you can’t find them in any stores near you, you can get them online at McMaster-Carr.

Wire comes in different gauges, the smaller the gauge number the thicker the wire. 18 gauge is very easy to bend and works fine if you’re attaching lightweight things to it like paper shapes. 16 gauge is sort of in the middle, and 14 gauge works good for a little heavier attachments (I use mostly 14 and 16 gauge for my two to three feet sized mobiles where the shapes are made of sheet metal).

If you’re planning on something a little bigger and a little heavier, you will have to get 12 or even 9 gauge wire, but when you go to that thickness it’s becoming increasingly hard to bend. Especially if you start using solid metal rods (rounds), you’ll need to figure out how to bend it in ways other than just with your hands and a pair of pliers. I made myself a special tool with two pulley wheels to get nice even round loops, but I’ll cover that in a different post sometime.

If you’re planning on making a large mobile, I recommend you use aluminum rods instead of wire, starting with 1/4 inch thick ones. To make a really big mobile or kinetic art installation, such as the 76 foot (23 meters) mobile by Alexander Calder at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, use hollow aluminum tubes. Using straight up metal on really large ones makes them too heavy.

There’s also a table on Wikipedia that shows various data including the gauge, diameter and more of the various wire gauges, and see the page I made that explains some of the basics about the balance of a hanging mobile.

If there’s anything else I can help with, don’t hesitate to contact me.

To see some of my mobiles, head over to the mobile page.