Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Mobile

A mobile is a type of kinetic sculpture. It consists of a number of rods, from which weighted objects and other rods hang. The objects handing from the rods balance each other, so that the rods remain more or less horizontal. Each rod hangs from only one string, which gives it freedom to rotate about the string. The sculptor Alexander Calder is well known for his mobiles. Calder is credited with inventing the mobile in 1925, although it was named by Marcel Duchamp. Mobiles are also popular in the nursery, where they hang over cribs to give infants something to look at.


See also: Mobile, Alabama