la grande vitesse - calder
Alexander Calder
Calders life and worksHistory of La Grande Vitesse
"Calder was already an international success when he was commissioned to create the first public sculpture to be funded by the National Endowment for the Arts through their Works of Art in Public Places Program. Before he began his design, Calder studied the architectural plans, scale, and materials of the buildings that were adjacent to the site. He designed a sculpture that responded precisely to the color, size, and shape of the plaza and the city and county buildings. That work, La Grande Vitesse, was dedicated to the City of Grand Rapids on June 14, 1969. Since then, the stabile has become a symbol for the city–a graphic of it adorns the city's street signs, letterhead and vehicles. Translated as "the great swiftness" or "the grand rapids", La Grande Vitesse, demonstrates Calder's ability to create in simple form and color artistic and engineering mastery. Although measuring fifty-four feet long, forty-three feet high, thirty feet wide, and weighing more than 42 tons, La Grand Vitesse is airy and fluid. Like many of his stabiles, La Grand Vitesse is painted in the artist's signature "Calder Red.""
sculpturesitesGR.org
I have seen this sculpture many times before in magazines,newspapers, and art books,but the pictures dont do it justice.
Read my encounter with Calder
| It was like any other night out wtih the girls;coffee, and a walk downtown. Although I lived just 15 minuites away,I never really spent a lot of time downtown. It was always just this place that held more promise for something fun compared to the usual walk around the mall in Grandville. Its funny because in my sculpture class we had just learned about Calder, and little did I know that i woul ld be running into him that very night. I never really took the time to discover the factors that helped shape Grand Rapid, and i found out that the la grande vitesse was one of them. |
| As i walked up to the sculpture, immeadiatly I noticed the color that seemed to jump out at me in the middle of its buisness colored buildings.The smooth lines of la grande vitesse set it apart from the geometric world around it. |
| My uninterested friends sat laughing in the chairs a few yards away at the sight of me dancing inbetween the sculptures arches. |
| I couldnt help but dance,it almost made me feel like I was a part of its beauty for a moment. |
| It was a weeknight and I was glad there was no one really around to watch me interpret my feelings other then my friends. As I slowly walked around it, my mind kept racing back to the video I had just watched on Calder. I couldnt belive bending wires as a kid had led him to something so great. |
Jenna Eisma
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- hot topics last edited on 19 November 2006 at 6:34 pm by c-71-205-70-111.hsd1.mi.comcast.net