Alexander Calder | Arts, Attractions, Geniuses, Physics and the Universe

这是一篇科普文。

When it looks all so striking, that someone can be the best in all worlds, yes it is but keep that thought. When you dive into those worlds, you will realize that there are not really that many segregated 'rules' in the world, the surprising fact you might realize is, they are all intertwined.

So I want to share with you a story, this story is about Alexander Calder, Rhonda Byrne, Einstein and Da Vinci, and reaches full circle with LIGO - the artist, the writer, the genius, the scientists and our universe.

Alexander Calder was known for his mobile sculptures, or shall I say physics of arts. Having studied both physics and arts in his college days in the US he soon became known as a guy who put up miniature circus with wire, wood and cloth in Paris. It wasn't long before he joined abstractions art group in Paris and started his mobile and abstract wire sculptures. Until today many people claim his mobile sculptures to have calming and meditating effects and many people enjoyed watching the subtle movements for hours with past patrons including Albert Einstein.

Calder's mobile arts deliver one or several messages about 'balance', 'physics of the Universe'. Every sculpture is delicately designed to balance within the nested structure and in a way to generate unpredictable constant movements. When one sees the large collection of hanging mobiles in the gallery one will notice not only it moves in a unpredictable way, it also moves faster. It will lead to realization that it is not only the weights of the hanging objects in the sculpture - it is also the patrons walking below and in front of it that generates air flow and contributes partly to the art itself - we are in the same universe and unavoidably the very own path changes with the presence of others.

Physics gave depth to the arts. Arts also links with and can be turned to scientific and social discovery - in a way it gives flesh to "the law of attraction", and gravitational waves.

Rhonda Byrne is the mind behind 'The Secret'. The famous film and book that enrolled her onto the list of 100 people that shaped the world ranked by Times Magazine in 2007. She advocates that believing is the secret to your dreams come true. You can be or do anything once you master the secret - thoughts and feelings become facts, known as 'the law of attraction'. She claimed in 'The Secret' this law led to the success of many great people in history including Albert Einstein and also the society's top 1%. The backers of this theory believe thoughts emit frequency to the universe that will attract the things you want, and also the things you don't want, to you, as long as you feel and experience them.

Law of attraction reasons when thoughts become actions and emotions sway one's choices and lead to predictable outcomes. It also resonates with the rotating universe in Calder's art with a balancing center. Some facts and things might deviate and move around but they will always be around a center where all things are balanced out. Also objects with the same center will follow a predictable path regardless of external factors.

Time is just an illusion, said Einstein and quoted by Byrne.

Albert Einstein the synonymous to genius is one that is claimed by Byrne has strong links with the law of attraction with his scientific achievements in physics and thus mechanics of the universe. The founder of 'the world's most famous equation' - the mass-energy E = mc2 also developed the theory of relativity leading to discovery of gravitation and large-scale structure of the universe. His appreciation to Calder the physicist/artist's artwork leads to the thought of another great genius 400 years older -

Leonardo Da Vinci.

As a leading innovator, scientist, mathematician, engineer, painter, sculptor, writer and astronomer, Da Vinci held the world together with his exceptional inter-disciplined talent. No doubt he is a great gift of human kind whose achievements are hard to replicate. Still he opened doors that made people realize the million similarities and links among all fields, the balance and the possibilities that once one understands the universe, every road leads to Rome.

LIGO (Laser-Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) has had its moment at the start of 2016 by the official announcement of direct detection of gravitational waves which also complimented the prediction of genius Einstein and opened new field on the study of the universe. The discovery demonstrates that every movement in the universe no matter how distant and small fraction of an atom it is (like black holes coalesce, or the changes inside a supernova), the atoms that shape everything lying on the wave path all shake a tiny bit, all the time.

This discovery completes the circle of my story on Calder's rotating arts on universe, the law of attraction and the geniuses by showing that most things in the universe is somehow intertwined. Every small movement always has certain impact on others.

We appreciate arts - balanced in a skewed way, abstract or impressionism, they are reflections of thoughts, feelings, inspirations and understanding of life and universe. Emotions are underrated in the modern world, yet they almost have the key on how we approach things and build the world. The geniuses were the ones that saw them through and showed the world the unseen.

The universe is mysterious, yet it behaves in certain pre-defined way, shaping every corner of the world and the life path we choose live, waiting for conscious discovery.

#AlexanderCalder #Arts #艺术