SCULPTURE
Lecture 8
Part I: Types of Sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture: Artworks that
exist in three dimension (NOT statues). Intimately connected with the time and space we occupy.
Classified by how it is viewed:
In the round
Relief
As an environment
Alexander Calder, Flamingo in the
Federal Plaza, Chicago.
Sculpture: In the Round
Sculpture-in-the-round: freestanding sculptures with fronts, sides, backs, and tops.
The spaces around the sculpture may also take on meaning in the work.
Bernini, Apollo and
Daphne, 1622-1625.
Sculpture: Relief
Relief: 3D form is raised on from a flat background. Similar to viewing a 2D
form because you see the front only. Oftentimes used in the decoration of
architecture.
Sculpture: Relief
High Relief: 3D form projects from its base by at least half its depth. Parts
of high relief may be sculpted fully in the round.
Parthenon Metope:
Centaur Fighting Lapith, ca.
447-432 BCE.
Sculpture: Relief
Low (bas) relief: very little of the background material is removed. Common to paint the forms after sculpting.
Ashurnasirpal II Killing Lions, Assyrian low relief, 7th century BCE.
Sculpture: Relief
Sunken relief: sculpting technique in which the image is engraved or carved
into the surface. Used rarely outside of ancient Egypt.
Akhenaten, His Wife
Nefertiti, and their three
Daughters, 1353-1336
BCE.
Sculpture: As an Environment
Some sculpture is designed to transform a space and our experience of a
space. Can be site-specific or modified to fit a variety of spaces.
Installation
Site-Specific
Earthworks
Performance Art
SaE: Installation
Installation: 3D art form that transforms an interior space to tell a story. The entire room is filled with items that conveys the content.
Works that cannot be moved are called site-specific.
Experience this work and learn its meaning at http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mark-bradford Go ahead to 7 minutes into the video.
Mark Bradford, Marketplace, 2006.
SaE: Site Specific
Several of our class members will be doing a brief
presentation on the Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate,
2004, at the end of class. Oh snap…you didn’t
really think you were going to get extra credit for just
sending a photo?
SaE: Earthworks
Earthworks: large-scale outdoor environments.
Modern works are inspired by ancient Native
American earthworks called mounds.
Great Serpent Mound,
Hopewell culture, ca.
600 BCE. Located in
Adams County, Ohio.
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty,
after completion in 1970.
Black rock, salt crystals, earth,
red water (algae), 3.5 ft x 15
ft. x 1500 ft.
Spiral Jetty reappeared in 2003. This
photo is from 2012. The red algae, black
rocks, and brown earth have been covered
with salt crystals.
SaE: Performance Art
Performance Art: live human activity that goes on in
a space. The physical presence of the body in the
space is (usually) the primary concern.
Performance art Today
The Artist is Present: 2010 performance by Marina
Abramović.
Text of first person narrative of this experience
available at
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/marina-
abramovic-the-artist-is-present.html
MOMA had a surprise for Abramović as viewed here.
Part II: The Process of Creation
Sculpture:
Subtractive Processes
Subtractive process: unwanted
material is removed. Most
difficult process.
Carving: the sculptor starts
with a block of material and
cuts/chisels away portions of it
until the form is created.
Common media are stone,
wood, ivory.
MICHELANGELO. The Cross-Legged Captive
Spirit Spouse, from the
Ivory Coast. 20th
century.
Videos From the Getty
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/videoDetails
?segid=4219
Tools featured in this video:
Tooth chisel
Point chisel
Drill
Rasp (a metal filing/smoothing tool)
Sculpture:
Additive Processes
Additive process: material is added, assembled, or built-up.
Common additive processes are modeling, casting, and constructions.
Modeled works are often made from clay, cast works are often metal, and constructions are any kind of material adhered together.
Top: Mayan Woman
Bottom: Ken Price, Vink, 2009.
Deborah Butterfield, Conure.
Assemblage/Steel.
Adriaen de Vries, Apollo, ca.
1595-97. Direct lost-cast
technique.
Videos From the Getty
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/videoDetails?segid=370
Tools used in this video:
Wax skin over clay form/core
Iron and wire armature
Second wax form
Core pins of iron
Sprues (wax rods)
Pouring cup
Kiln (oven)
Molten bronze in a crucible
Chisel and small iron tools
Cloth
Class Participation Activity. Break up into 3 Groups:
Group A: State’s Attorney’s Representing the City of New York
Group B: Defendant’s Attorney’s Representing Artist Richard Serra
Group C: Those who emailed me because they’ve seen Cloud Gate. You are going to be the jury later on.
Part III: Art on Trial!!!
Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, in New York’s
Federal Plaza. Finished in 1981.
120 feet long, 12 feet high, 2.5 inches thick
Unfinished steel
$175,000
After Lecture 8 You Should Be able to:
Distinguish between Sculpture-in-the-round, Relief sculpture, and Sculpture as an Environment.
Identify how modeling, casting, carving, and assembling differ.
Explain how installation works differ from traditional 2D and 3D works.
Describe the form and content of the artworks featured in this lecture.