1.Form is what physically makes up the art work. The form integrates...A Composition: Formal Elements (visual elements used by the artist) Principles of Design (how the artist arranges these visual elements) Dimension (how the artwork occupies space and time) Media/ Materials (what the work is made of) Processes/Methods (how the work is made) Technique/Skills (how the artist manipulates the materials and processes) Style (is the work abstract, representational, conceptual, etc.)

2. In the early 20th century artists and teachers at a German art school called the Bauhaus identified, and standardizedfor the sake of teaching, certain elements that are commonto visual phenomenon. They called these the FormalElements. They areLineShapeColorTextureValue (light and dark) 3. These Formal Elements then have to be put togetherand INTERACT in some way for our brain to makesense out the arrangement. In art, we want thatarrangement to communicate some meaning. Thisintentional arrangement of elements is called Design(or Composition).Again, artists created the Principles of Design so thatthey could talk about design concepts. 4. Scale Unity and variety Proportion Balance Movement Emphasis 5. SCALEScale refers to how big or small something is 6. Michelangelo isplaying with scale ina number of wayshere. First, thepainting fills theceiling of a chapel soit is quite large tobegin with.Secondly, the story isbig the story ofmans covenant withGod. But if you lookclosely you can seethat he has figuresthat are large andsome that are small.This adds to therichness of the visualinformation.When looking up atthe heavens here onefeels very small andMichelangelo, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508 - 1512 insignificant. 7. In contrast, CharlesSimonds creates littleintimate buildingsinside of emptylots, damagedbuildings and otherplaces where if yourenot paying attentionyou might miss them.The sculptures seemlike small villageswhich makes us quitegiant in comparison.Just the opposite ofwhat Michelangelowanted.Charles Simonds 8. Here James Rosenquist messes with our heads by changing the scale of objects within the same painting. The moon, the spoon, and the wheel of the car are all about the same size, when in reality they would be quite different.James Rosenquist 9. UNITYOur brains need to find recognizable patterns to find consistency andmake sense of the world. V ARIETYAnd yet, without differences we would get bored. 10. In this sculpture the artist createsboth unity and variety. The color, therepeating rectangular and circularshapes both provide us with astructure which Nevelson then fillswith a wild variety of shapes andshadows. The combination allowsour brains to feel secure while weexplore the chaos and visual fun.Louise Nevelson 11. Louise Nevelson often dressed in all black (many of hersculptures were all black as well). I saw her speak once when Iwas in college. She had these huge false eyelashes and was alittle scary.Louise Nevelson 12. Notice how Daviduses the arches andthe color to createunity. He uses theposition of the figuresand the light to createvariety.Jacques Louis David 13. These ideas hold truefor sculpture as well.The material(bronze), the color andthe size of the figuresprovide us with thestabilizing unity whilethe gestures of thefigures (and thenegative space aroundthem) gives us plenty ofinteresting visualstimulation.Auguste Rodin 14. Proportion refers to the relationship to size ina composition. It may be within the object itself or the relationship of objects in the art work. 15. Michelangelo made this sculpture at the age of 26! I could barely tie my shoes by then. In Florence, Italy at the time a period called the Renaissance was blooming. The Florentines were coming of age as a city state. The had just defeated their stronger northern neighbors and were feeling their oats. They saw themselves as the heirs to the Greek sense of rationality and human dignity. The story of David and Goliath was a perfect metaphor for them. The underdog, a young boy, defeats the enemy giant. Michelangelo represents David as someone with almost ideal proportions, mimicking the ideals of the Greeks. But he sneaks in some visual clues to the fact that David is still just a boy. Look carefully at the head and hands. They are just a bit too big. Like a puppy, David is still growing into his manhood. Just like Florence was still growing into a powerful state.Michelangelo 16. Here Henry Moore exaggeratesthe features of the woman. Thedelicate feet could neversupport the bodys weight andthe waist is too thin to supportthe breasts and shoulders.Moore uses this tension tocreate visual interest.Henry Moore 17. Ah, the infamous Barbie. If a real womanhad these proportions she would beunable to walk. Yet many girls play withBarbie dolls when they are young. Does ithave an effect on their body image lateron? Some people think so.Although a toy and not an art work itshows that proportion is a powerful visualelement. 18. Botero Enough said????Leonard Da Vinci 19. Two main types of balance Symmetrical - the elements in the artworkare equally balanced on both sides of thecomposition, almost a mirror image. Asymmetrical the elements dont mirroreach other, but create an overall sense ofbalance in the composition. This requiresa more intuitive approach. 20. Examples of symmetrical balance 21. Examples of symmetrical balance 22. Examples of asymmetrical balance 23. Examples of asymmetrical balance 24. Sandro BottecelliAnother artist from the Renaissance, Bottecelli wants to create a balanced composition toshow how balanced the Florentines were. The artists from this period often used balance tocreate a sense of harmony. They often used a triangular compositional device (a trianglebeing a very stable shape). Would you say this was symmetrical or asymmetrical balance? 25. Sandro BottecelliWould you say this was symmetrical or asymmetrical balance? 26. Sandro BottecelliThis figure of Venus (the lady on the shell) also has a sense of balance. What attitude doesthe figure display? 27. Sandro BottecelliThe red line represents what is known as an S curve. The weight is on one foot and onefoot is relaxed. The body language is saying Im cool. Thats also how the Florentinessaw themselves. Go back and check out the sculpture of David. Is he cool too? 28. Willem DeKooningAbstract painting needs to have these design principles as well. Balance can beachieved by shape, color, texture, all the formal elements. Notice how the color in thesepaintings creates balance. Symmetrical or asymmetrical? 29. Lets not forgetother art forms.Edgar Degas 30. Claes Oldenburg 31. Any balancehere?Mou Boyan 32. This is called an installation where the artist fills a whole space with something in order to transform the space somehow. Any balance here?Ma Liang 33. Mom e n tMovement in an artwork can mean different things. Here arethree examples. 34. Umberto BoccioniBoccioni was an Italian artist and member of a group of artists known as theFuturists. They wanted to show the speed of modern life. Here Boccioni uses theshapes and angles of the figure to present a literal feeling of movement. 35. Vincent Van GoghAgain, van Gogh is creating a feeling of actual movement of the heavenlybodies, the wind and the light. 36. Jackson Pollock"[Hans] Hofmann said to Pollock on seeing his painting for the first time, Ach! You work by heart, notfrom nature. And Pollocks answer: I am nature. Here the painting is a record of the artists gesture(this type of painting was dubbed Action Painting by art critic Clement Greenberg). If Pollock isnature, then the paint splatters are a record of natures existence. We can follow Pollocks movementaround the canvas. 37. Wassily KandinskySometimes movement refers to the way an artist moves the viewers eye around the pictureplane. Notice how Kandinsky uses the color and the line to make us visit all areas of thiscomposition. When we get to one edge there is something pointing us back the other way. 38. emp HasisEven though everything in the composition ofan artwork is important, not everything isnecessarily equally important. Sometime the artist wants to emphasizecertain points. 39. EmphasisCezanne BronzinoHere the figures are whats emphasized Same with this painting. There aresince it is a portrait. Notice how all the other no dead spaces, but it is clear theelements in the painting (like the dress objects are the main emphasis ofdetails, the modeling of the background) the painting.show care and thoughtfulness, they do notovershadow the figures. 40. Josef AlbersSometimes the artist wants to emphasize one of the formal elements. Why should wecare about squares? Albers uses them because his emphasis is the color and the colorrelationships. By choosing squares to paint he doesnt have to think about compositionand can focus on color. 41. Mark RothkoRothko was a master colorist, but claimed he didnt care about color at all. His focus was onthe mood or feeling that the painting evoked in the viewer. That was his emphasis although hehad to use the formal elements to get there. 42. Were going to track three artworks in our exploration into Form, Theme, andContext.On the next three slides youll be asked to comment. 43. What strikes youabout this painting?Choose two itemsfrom our list andcomment on howDavid uses them tocreate visual drama. Formal Elements (visual elements used by the artist) Principles of Design (how the artist arranges these visual elements) Dimension (how the artwork occupies space and time) Media/ Materials (what the work is made of) Processes/Methods (how the work is made)Jacques-Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787 Technique/Skills (how the artist oil on canvas, 129.5 cm X 196.2 cmmanipulates the materials and processes) Style (is the work abstract, representational, concep tual, etc.) 44. Find anything interestingabout this painting? Againchoose two things from ourlist and comment on howMondrian uses them in hispainting to achieve visualeffect. Formal Elements (visual elements used by the artist) Principles of Design (how the artist arranges these visual elements) Dimension (how the artwork occupies space and time) Media/ Materials (what the work is made of) Processes/Methods (how the work is made) Technique/Skills (how the artist manipulates the materials and processes)Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black, 1921Style (is the workOil on canvas, 59.5 cm X 59.5 cm abstract, representational, conce ptual, etc.) 45. Chris BurdenWhoa! Wait a second. Is it possible for the principles of designplay a key in this artwork??? Comment on why or why not theformal elements and principles of design can be useful inhelping us understand this artwork.