Alberto Giacometti

1901 - 1966

What changes?And why?

Michelangelo's “David”1501

Giacometti’s “Walking Man” 1945

Biography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hDNMN0nOSw

(a full analysis: 52 minutes and very in depth!)

Another student video with animation….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?=v1AjArQQ75U

Existentialism

Noun

a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Why could this portrayal of a human, called “Walking Man” be considered existentialist?

Regarding Giacometti's sculptural technique and according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: "The rough, eroded, heavily worked surfaces of Three Men Walking (II), 1949, typify his technique. Reduced, as they are, to their very core, these figures evoke lone trees in winter that have lost their foliage.."[4]

Since Giacometti achieved exquisite realism with facility when he was executing busts in his early adolescence, Giacometti's difficulty in re-approaching the figure as an adult is generally understood as a sign of existential struggle for meaning, rather than as a technical deficit.

A student version of Giacometti’s style…

How can you translate Giacometti’s work into your theme for the semester?

Giacometti Wire Figures 1. Think of how you can relate a figure, either animal or human, to

your topic.2. Sketch the figure, using gesture techniques that we have

practiced in class. Create at least 5 different poses.3. Choose the pose you plan to use.4. Determine how the figure will attach to the plaster of Paris base.5. Arrange the “hook” for your figure, and pour the plaster base into the solo cup form.6. Create the figure out of wire, making secure wraps and bends, imitating Giacometti’s style.7. Attach the figure to the base.8. Cover the figure with tape and decoupage newspaper strips.9. Paint the figure.10. Name the sculpture, and sign and date the platform.