Anne Fisker Nielsen
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Art & Technology, AAU
1. Semester 2011
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The List of Content
The Introduction
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The Relation between Structure and Sculpture
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The Relation between Materials and Sculpture
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The Final Assignment – Concrete
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The Conclusion
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The Bibliography
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The Tectonic course by Dario Parigi gave an
understanding of structures and materials in
sculptures and architecture. The word ‘tectonic’ means
‘art from construction’ and we were given the tools to
make sensible decisions when it comes to choosing
structural forms and materials for art pieces. The
course ended with a final assignment where we built a
sculpture using some of the knowledge gained during
the lessons.
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The Relation between Structure and
Sculpture
Any object is subject to different forms of wearing and
to stand these the structure of the object has to be
stabile in its build.
A force is a physical occurrence which has both a size
and a direction. Exercises were performed to teach
this. There were made a mobile such as the artist
Calder makes and a small sculpture of foam
From these exercises I refreshed the theory of forces
and equilibrium: One force or more on an object
would cause it to move, except if the sum of the
forces equals zero. The force can be seen as an arrow.
challenging the physical laws. The Calder’s exercise
If the object is affected by two different forces the
was to make a mobile with aluminum sticks, strings
resulting position of the object can be found through
and fruit. The purpose was to play with the theory of
a parallelogram:
forces and equilibrium. A mobile is so easily
unbalanced that you get an understanding of how the
balance of things works by for example making a
construction like this:
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If the sum of the different forces on the object equals
touching each other.
zero, the object is in equilibrium. This means that it
From these exercises I refreshed the theory of
is in balance. A force can also rotate the object. This
stresses in structure. An object being pulled is in
force is called Moment. A moment (M) is determined
tension while an object under pressure is in
by the distance (d) between the rotation point and the
compression. An object can also be in both tension
force acting on the objects multiplied by this force (F).
and compression. This occurs for example in a simple
The sum of moments will also equal zero if in
bridge, a bar over a void. The top part of the bar
equilibrium. The moment is what would make a
would be in compression while the lower part in
sculpture overturn. It is harder to overturn the lower
tension, while the middle layer would sense no stress:
the center of gravity, the larger the weight, and the
bigger pedestal/foot. The center of gravity should be
at the same point of the pedestal for the sculpture not
to overturn or overturn easily if not attached to the
ground.
Internal forces are phenomenons such as tension and
compression which can cause an object to break or
crumble. To experience this there were built bridges
of spaghetti and made tensegrity sculptures. The
tensegrity exercise was to play with tension and
compression. This consisted of building a sculpture
where elements were in a system of tension and
compression which resulted in the elements not
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This can be enforced through different structures.
Squares in a structure are very instable whereas a
triangle hardly can be deformed in both tension and
compression. Another way to enforce a structure is
to prevent bars from bending. We used this for the
spaghetti bridge. Spaghetti is a very bendy material
and it was therefore enforced in different ways. A bar
will bend less the shorter it is. To enforce a long bar
you can support it in more places than just the ends
of it. This will give the same effect as if it was many
short bars consecutively.
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7
Relation between materials and
Sculpture
Materials in a sculpture are an important part of how
we perceive it. Artists often try to alter the usual ways
a material is perceived, to disorientate and surprise.
The properties of the material you choose to use for
your sculpture influences how you make the
sculpture, how it is perceived, where you can place it
and so on. Material communicates with the viewer
through; color, odor, taste, sound and texture.
Concrete
Concrete is very easy to work with even though it
requires a pre-build form made from another material
to give shape while drying. On the other hand does
this requirement it possible to create almost any kind
of shape, texture and surface.
Humans have been using concrete for different
purposes through many years. It has been used in
the latter Roman times to the gothic period. But the
theory of mixing in a coarser aggregate such as gravel
is a relatively new development. This gives a better
strength to the concrete. This strength makes the
concrete last longer under stress. The material is very
good under compression but a lot of tension makes it
break. These properties are the reason for using it for
large-scale buildings. The newest development is
reinforced concrete. You use steel elements inside the
concrete, especially where there is tension.
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Wood
Wood is a material that is 100 % reusable, recyclable
and biodegradable. Since it is an organic material it
will always have smaller imperfections and it will
shrink or swell depending on the moisture of the
surroundings. Wood handles both tension and
compression well. And can therefore be used for
many different purposes.
We use and have been using wood for buildings,
tools, weapons and furniture. Wood has also been an
Metal
important part of art and design through all times.
There are many different kinds of metal, and we use
Artists used to cover up the wood with paint but
and have used most of these in sculptures. The
today you mostly see the raw wood. A mix of the
different metals used is grouped up in ferrous, non
different species in a sculpture can create depth and
ferrous and alloys.
contrast. There is about 40.000 different species of
During this course we spend most time working with
trees which gives an enormous variety.
steel which can resist a lot of stress, both tension and
compression. But thin elements of steel might bend
under compression.
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The Final assignment – Concrete
For the final assignment in tectonic we created a
sculpture consisting of a single cube of concrete and
elements in tension and compression inspired by
Santiago Calatrava.
We each created a concrete cube. I liked the idea of
creating a contrast between organic materials and the
urban and human made materials that are concrete
and steel. To create a cube of concrete you must build
a mold for it. I did this in wood and glued leafs from
trees on four of the 6 surfaces of the mold. The
concrete was mixed at the concrete lab. For a
smoother surface of the cube I choose a mix of
concrete with less water in it and plasticizer added.
While pouring in the concrete the mold stood on a
vibrating surface to make sure the concrete reached
every corner. I pulled of the mold approximately 72
hours later and brushed of the leafs with a steel
brush. My idea was then to wrap a string of steel
around the cube and let it hang from some sort of
system of tension and compression.
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Since this was a group assignment we used Marie
Louise’s cube and not mine. She had put in steel bars
and wires into the concrete before letting it dry. These
bars were slightly crooked so if the cube was to be in
level it would overturn. We had a board of timber in
which were drilled two holes with the same angles as
the steel bars, so when putting them in the cube
would be in level. To keep it from overturning the
wires was used. They were attached to the piece of
timer with clamps.
The finished result of this assignment was a
sculpture with contrast in material and a strong
feeling of internal stress. You can easily see the
tension of the wires and the compression of the bars.
The Conclusion
Through this course I have refreshed the physical
laws and theory of forces, moments and stresses. I
have learned about different properties of materials
and how to use them to their full potential.
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The Bibliography
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Pictures
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sch&tbnid=TzKuMl-b76JQOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.exo-
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=steel&um=1&hl=da&rls=com.
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http://www.google.com/imgres?q=broken+concrete&um=1&hl=
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tunia.com/blog/tag/how-to-plan-a-
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Books
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=branch&um=1&hl=da&rls=co
Development in Structural form by Rowland J. Mainstone for
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Allen Lane/Penguin Books
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