Describe the “flamingo” by Alexander Calder located in downtown Chicago thoughtfully, paying particular attention to how it interacts with its site and its viewers. Describe in detailed analysis the emotions attached to viewing this monument, its meaning, function and all other details you find necessary to elaborate on.
Consider the points below when analyzing the monument (you don’t have to include everything but try to make your analysis as detailed and precise as possible):
Medium; technique; size/scale. How do these affect the style? Is it done in a positive or negative technique? Does the sculptor wish you to be conscious of the medium, or does s/he wish you to “see” the material as something else?
Treatment of the human body (or animal body; or drapery; etc.). Naturalistic? Schematized or abstracted? Idealized? Note proportions. Is it a portrait? What is the attitude towards the person/animal?
Composition. How is it organized? Is there a focal point? Is the composition unified? Fragmented? Does color affect the composition? Hierarchy? Symmetry? Many or few forms included? Geometrically ordered or free and seemingly accidental? Crowdedness or spaciousness? Variety or repetition? Does the composition help to direct viewers’ attention: in what way and how?
From what vantage point was the image to be viewed – from below? from the front? Is there a main view? Could the viewer walk entirely around the object? Did the sculptor plan for it to be viewed from all sides?
Consider the formal elements of the sculpture:
scale
in-the-round vs. relief
directionality
shape [organic vs. geometric]
open form /closed form [silhouette]
material
texture
volume
light and shadow
color
technique [additive vs. subtractive]
General condition of the piece: is the piece intact? It is whole or just a fragment? Does it present signs of wearing, abrasions, etc.? Where?
Display: was the sculpture conceived as a decorative unit or as part of a sculptural or architectural ensemble? Was it produced to be on a pedestal or a base of some sort (identify and describe the base, if possible)?
Space. How does the sculpture relate to the space around it? Does it reach out into it, look or gesture outwards? Or is it self-contained and removed from the viewer’s space? What is the shape of the space, and does it progress or have implied movement? Does it interact with its viewers?
Color and Lighting: Has the sculptor created coloristic effects through contrasting shadows and highlights that play on the actual sculpture? Are there deeply cut areas that create deep shadows? Are the figures modeled vigorously, creating a play of darks and lights, or modeled very smoothly?
Function and Meaning: What is its purpose? How has the style and subject of the image been affected by its original function?
Theme: What is represented? Are the motifs abstract or pictorial? Does this piece belong to a system of beliefs, religion, culture, etc.? Can we identify it?
