Viewing mobile minds: Stuart Smith'sgifts
John P. Welsh · Interface · 1987
Mobile form is uniquely of our times. Its structure is non‐linear; each rich moment after moment is more meaningful than the sum of the moments. As Alexander Calder himself has stated: “My mobiles are objects in space. I am a sculptor because I want to avoid telling stories.” The aim of “Viewing Mobile Minds” is to discuss in great detail Stuart Smith's mobile, Gifts (1974). Because a mobile can be reassembled and recombined in many ways, of great importance are the elements that are common to every performance. These fixed elements will recur in each performance regardless of the reassembling procedure. The analysis of Gifts presents a methodology for discussing mobiles and their intrinsic and intriguing tendencies based on statistical weightings. Because fixed and unfixed elements are at the very core of a mobile, statistics seem to be the most appropriate method for generating the tendency of certain musical parameters. The conclusions regarding Gifts will then apply to all realizations of the work.