Linear Sculpture
Project:
• Create a freestanding linear sculpture balanced by planes of color.
Objectives:
• Design a freestanding sculpture using 50-75 sticks. Make thumbnail
sketches of several ideas first.
• You may choose to design a modular unit using 2-4 sticks.
Construct as many modular units as possible with your sticks. Then
assemble your sculpture from all of the modules.
• Spray paint the sculpture if desired.
• Add paper to select areas to create planes. Look at Piet Mondrian’s
paintings as a source of inspiration. Consider how these solid
planes will create movement and balance throughout your sculpture.
• Show awareness of sculpture vocabulary: Line, Plane,
Positive/Negative Space, Balance, Movement/Rhythm, Repetition,
Module, Geometric
Artist: Haydn Davies (1921-2008)
Title: Symposium Piece for Eva
Material: Laminated Cedar
Aaron Kellner
Diane Simpson
Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian radically simplified the elements of his artwork in an effort to
reflect what he believed to be the order underlying the visible world. In his
ground breaking paintings of the 1920s, Mondrian strictly limited his color
palette to black, white, and the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.
Key Ideas about Mondrian:
•
Mondrian equated art with the spiritual. He simplified his work, searching to
reveal the essence of the spiritual energy in the balance of forces that
governs nature and the universe.
•
Mondrian attempted to represent the world through vertical and horizontal
lines which to him represented the two opposing forces: the positive and the
negative, the dynamic and the static, the masculine and the feminine.
•
His work progressed from traditional representation to complete abstraction.
from: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-mondrian-piet.htm
Composition with Large Blue Plane,
Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray
1921
Oil on canvas
60.5 x 50 cm (23 3/4 x 19 5/8 in)
Dallas Museum of Art
Composition in Red, Blue, and
Yellow, 1937-42, oil on canvas, 23
3/4 x 21 7/8 inches (60.3 x 55.4 cm),
Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Define these terms in your visual journal and include
a visual example of each. List which is an art
element and which is a principle of design.
Line
Plane
Positive/Negative Space
Balance
Repetition
Movement/Rhythm
Module
Geometric
Line: the path of a moving point
Plane: surface areas defined by
a change in direction
Space: the area around, between,
below, and within objects.
Examples of positive/negative space
(also called figure/ground):
Balance: creating a sense of equal
weight or interest. There are 3
different types of balance.
Symmetrical balance:
• Asymmetrical balance:
• Radial Balance:
Repetition: an element that is
used again and again (pattern)
Movement / Rhythym
• Movement: creating a feeling of action;
guiding a viewer’s eye through the art
work.
• Rhythm: repeating elements to create
movement (a visual tempo or beat).
• Module: a three-dimensional motif
(motif = a unit that is repeated)
• Geometric: precise shapes defined
mathematically (opposite of free-form,
organic shapes, such as what you see in
nature)