{"id":18293,"date":"2011-12-07T05:44:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T10:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?p=18293"},"modified":"2015-05-12T15:01:14","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T19:01:14","slug":"calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/","title":{"rendered":"calder’s improvised life: iron garden chair barbeque grill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Calder<\/a>
photo: herbert matter, courtesy of the calder foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of all the brilliant artists we feature on ‘the improvised life’, Alexander Calder <\/a>holds a special place in our hearts. In addition to his monumental artworks and legendary mobiles, he was a prolific creator of household objects for everyday use. If he or his wife Louisa or a friend needed something utilitarian, he would devise a solution on the spot, with whatever was at hand.<\/p>\n

The trove of his improvisations is vast and inspiring; each invites rethinking of common objects we often take for granted: tin cans, pie tins, wire, bits of scrap wood. His creations were not only useful, but visually stunning.<\/p>\n

Here is the artist telling how he created a barbeque grill out of an iron garden chair after his son-in-law Jean Davidson invited a horde of people over for a party:<\/p>\n

“[Jean Davidson] had invited at least forty people to eat three-inch-steaks and a dozen chickens in their skins. He had the meat and the fire, but no implements with which to cook them. So I hunted around the unloved house on the other island and found an old garden chair made completely of iron. I wove some wire across where the back had been, and we cooked it up on the fire and it served very well as a grill. Steak a la chaise came to be the specialite maison”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—Calder, An Autobiography with Pictures<\/a>\"\", Pantheon Books, 1966<\/p>\n

Related posts:
\nalexander calder\u2019s breakthrough year<\/a>
\n<\/a>calder via \u2018world of interiors\u2019 + \u2018the improvised life\u2019<\/a>
\n<\/a>what\u2019s the perfect desk (for you)?
\n<\/a>cinder block houses + studios (via alexander calder)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the brilliant artists we feature on ‘the improvised life’, Alexander Calder holds a special place in our hearts. In addition to his monumental artworks and legendary mobiles, he was a prolific creator of household objects for everyday use. If he or his wife Louisa or a friend needed something utilitarian, he would devise…<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[458,6554,118,127,31,1076,67,6549,89,6,8363],"tags":[1756,3315,3316,3462],"yoast_head":"\ncalder's improvised life: iron garden chair barbeque grill - Improvised Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Of all the brilliant artists we feature on 'the improvised life', Alexander Calder holds a special place in our hearts. 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In addition to his monumental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-07T10:44:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-12T19:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Grill-Herbert-Matter.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"554\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sally Schneider\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4\"},\"headline\":\"calder’s improvised life: iron garden chair barbeque grill\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-07T10:44:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-12T19:01:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/\"},\"wordCount\":284,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Alexander Calder\",\"Calder's home improvisations\",\"Calder's housewares\",\"Calder's improvised utensils\"],\"articleSection\":[\"creative process\",\"diy\",\"housewares\",\"how-to\",\"inspiring people\",\"kitchen\",\"materials for making\",\"mindset\",\"paths + processes\",\"repurpose + reclaim\",\"table\/food\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2011\/12\/07\/calders-improvised-life-iron-garden-chair-barbeque-grill\/\",\"name\":\"calder's improvised life: iron garden chair barbeque grill - Improvised Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-07T10:44:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-12T19:01:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Of all the brilliant artists we feature on 'the improvised life', Alexander Calder holds a special place in our hearts. 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