In 1932, artist and sculptor Alexander Calder devised Small Sphere and Heavy Sphere, Calder's first hanging mobile and one of the first works that sought to blend visual and performance art with sound. Consisting of a heavy iron sphere and a smaller wooden one that hang on either end of a horizontal iron rod, the work is activated by setting the spheres in motion, creating an delicate cacophony by crashing into a collection of household items.
The Whitney, which is currently displaying a show of Calder's mobiles and motor-powered works, invited turntablist and sound artist Christian Marclay and cellist Okkyung Lee to stage Small Sphere and Heavy Sphere last week in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater. Marclay laid out the objects on the floor – wine bottles, copper chimes, cermaic bowls – while Lee walked around the room, dragging and occasionally playing her cello. It was less music than John Cage-like aleatory (which, of course, Cage would vehemently call music), along with some occasional accidental humor, such as when a Mrs. Fields cookie tin twice rolled across the floor until it crashed into the audience.
The Whitney's "Calder: Hypermobility" remains on display through October 23, with daily activations of Calder's sculptures, along with additional performances by JACK Quartet, Arto Lindsay, C. Spencer Yeh and others. More info on the Whitney's website. More pictures here.