Immobilized

You picked a fine time to balance mobiles. I don't know if Al (Sandy) Calder ever visited Alabama, but his art works are pronounced the same as the city of Mobile, AL. True, the word mobile is usually pronounced like Mobil Oil whenever it is capable of being moved from place to place or marked by the easy intermixing of different social groups. [In our current mobile society more and more people appreciate Calder's mobiles.] But when you are talking about a type of sculpture consisting of parts that move in response to air currents, PLEASE think of Lucille or Loose Wheel:

You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille,
With four hungry children and a crop in the field.
I've had some bad times, lived through some sad times,
But this time your hurting won't heal.
You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille.



A Calder mobile at the University of Arkansas art department. And no, it isn't "400 children"! It would be really difficult to balance all those kids, let alone hang them from the ceiling.



© 2007 Nancy L. Ruder