Spontaneous Sculpture

Mikey's Signature Sculpture

Something is Amiss

Yesterday I walked into my closet and sensed that something was amiss. I wondered if I had hung the empty hangers on the drawer pulls. Possible. Did my husband drop the hangers into the laundry bins? Not likely. Then I saw it...Mikey's signature. Four hangers were hanging one from the next, leaning right and left, until the chain reached the floor.

Art Examines Physics - The Lowest Energy State

Hangers present an interesting material for a preschool engineer. Hooks make them cool; managing the balance makes them mechanically interesting. Mikey likes to work with them by building down. He likes to hang one from another. He starts by placing the proximate hook in the center of the horizontal piece of the preceding hanger. Then he slides it to its lowest energy state. One at a time he makes a chain that extends from the bar to the floor. These four hangers are his signature. The other hangers placed strategically around the room are his play.

Everyday Objects Transformed into Art - Its a Thing

Living with a preschooler is sometimes frustrating, usually entertaining, and always interesting. In the case of the spontaneous hanger sculpture I have chosen to see it as the work of a preschool engineer. He is learning about balance. He is learning to use found objects in his art. (Yes, I consider this preschooler art.) He is thinking outside the closet, being creative, and only inconveniences me a teeny tiny bit.