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.