SculptureSculptureChapter 1Chapter 1

Intro ❖ Sculpture- is the art of using materials to

transform an idea into a real object. Sculpture is used to designate a 3D form that is mostly non functional.

❖ Functional Sculpture- Useable art. You can wear it, eat out of it, or use it for a functional purpose.

❖ Non Functional- Decorative and artistic only. You can not use it for a functional purpose.

History

❖ Sculpture can be dated to prehistoric times a much as 30,000 years ago.

❖ Prehistoric and Neolithic people used stone, shells, and bone to carve small animals.

❖ They also carved practical tools like knives, axes, and storage vessels. They are so well designed that they are considered sculptures.

❖ In ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians) created both small and sculptures out of marble, stone, and precious metal.

❖ Many of the works depicted rulers, court life, indicating the importance of government.

Mesopotamia

Egypt❖ Sculpture was closely

related to religious life.❖ Sculptures varied:

colossal stone, reliefs of rulers, life-size gold coffins, carved scarabs.

❖ Sculptors followed strict rules for creating sculptures, style was unchanged for over 2,000 years.

China

❖ Sculptors were masters of bronze casting, creating intricate ritual vessels, and containers covered with designs of human and animal form.

Greece and Rome❖ Sculptures show the

preoccupation with achieving perfection of the human form.

❖ Focus was on the individual and the work became increasingly naturalistic yet highly idealize.

Native American ❖ Used stone, clay,

feathers, and readily available materials.

❖ Mayan: Clay sculptures Inca: works in metal

❖ Today- Pueblo: Kachinas Northwest coast tribes: Totem Poles

Vocabulary❖ Mobile- A sculpture

constructed of shapes that are balanced and arranged on wire arms and suspended from above so as to move freely in air currents

❖ Kinetic- 3d art that contains moving parts and can be set in motion by air currents or a motor.

❖ Form- is the total mass or configuration that the subject or idea takes. It is the final physical structure of the sculpture. It has volume and mass and is 3D.

❖ Content- The message the artist is trying to convey through the sculpture.

❖ Technique- is the marriage of materials and tools with the ability of the sculptor. It is the result of the artists’ knowledge, skill, practice and preparation. Ideas are just ideas without technique.

Fundamentals

Elements of Art❖ Form- 3D mass; it is an object that has height, width, and

depth. Forms can either be geometric (regular) or organic (irregular).

❖ Shape- is 2D or flat. They can be geometric or organic.

❖ Texture- in sculpture it is real; it can be touched or felt.

❖ Space- The area around or within the sculpture as well as the area that the sculpture occupies. Positive space: The sculpture itself. Negative space: The area around and within the sculpture.

❖ Line- a mark made by a moving point. It directs the visual path from one point to another. Line can define the solid mass- it serves as an outline or as surface decoration on the form.

❖ Color- Many sculptors prefer the natural color of the medium but some sculptures use patinas, stains, and other surface treatments to change the color.

❖ Values- define a work by creating a pattern of light and dark that shows its 3D form.

❖ Balance-Whether all parts of the work have equal visual “weight” and create a feeling of equilibrium. Balance is a structural issue, if the work does not fall over and can support itself then it is balanced. ❖ Radial Balance- all sides rotate or radiate from a

center point.❖ Symmetrical Balance- When both sides of the

design are exactly the same. Mirror image❖ Asymmetrical Balance- opposing sides have the

same visual weight but different number of objects.

Principles of Art

❖ Proportion- size relationship from one part to another. Exaggeration proportions are often used to convey a symbolic meaning.

❖ Scale- size relationship; it is the size of one object compared to other objects or its surroundings.

❖ Contrast- Great difference between two things.

❖ Emphasis- The subject or focal point.

❖ Unity- the appearance that all of the components of a sculpture are working together.

❖ Variety- adds visual interest to a sculpture and keeps the viewer curious.

❖ Pattern- the repetition of texture, forms, colors, and other designs elements.

❖ Movement- sense of movement created by angles or planes to further the sculptural idea.

❖ Rhythm- use of pattern, or repeated elements or recurring paths of movement. A visual beat or tempo.

❖ Freestanding- A sculpture that is “in the round” a work that has been made to be viewed from all sides.

❖ Relief- A sculpture juts out from a surface or wall and has at least one side that is not developed. ❖ Low relief (Bas-relief)- a sculpture that only

projects slightly from the background. ❖ High relief - about one half of a figures normal

thickness projects from the background.

Sculpture Concepts