Focus on this artwork and analyze the Appearance and function.
The design of the clouds and their response to a problem with sound was a contributor to the development of interior space acoustics. The panels are positioned with consideration to angle and dimensions; some absorb sound, some project it, and some magnify it. As Calder intended, the clouds combine technology and art; however, Calder had also wanted the clouds to be movable, so that they could create different acoustic experiences, but they are not – after being angled for installation they are fixed. The hall can have two different acoustic optimization formats, though, as a removable fiberglass sheet was installed above the panels. This is intended to reduce echo and sound transfer time, which optimizes the acoustics for speech; removing the sheet with the clouds in place gives the outstanding acoustics for musical performance.Art critic Phyllis Tuchman notes that though Calder was not Latin American, the "colorfully curving" clouds are "archetypically 'Latin American'"; she says that this "express[es] the region's 'lyricism'". Tuchman also appreciates the real cloud-like appearance, saying that the interior of the hall "resembles clouds scattered across a night sky [...] [w]ith the hall darkened", so those who enter with only the houselights on "feel as if they have entered a multihued, three-dimensional abstract painting". Patrick Frank, writer on modern art in Latin America, says that the design "both dazzles the senses and inspires awareness".Supposedly, when the Aula Magna was completed and the clouds had just been painted, Villanueva went inside to see them and was so impressed he threw his arms up and cheered.
fiberglass modern art in Latin America Aula Magna interior space acoustics