Sculpture
Three – Dimensional
Media
Sculpture Media
Sculpture- art work that confronts us with the third
dimension, with the concept of depth.
• Media (plural form of medium) is the “stuff” we
make art with.
• Some traditional sculpture media include
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Wood
Glass
Clay
Plaster
Marble (Stone)
Bronze
Papier mache
Metal
Relief vs. freestanding
• A relief is “flat”sculpture. It is meant to be
seen from only one side. Reliefs are
usually found carved into walls or
doorframes.
• Free-standing sculptures are true
sculptures “in the round”. They are meant
to be viewed from all sides and stand on
their own. These sculptures can be on the
ground, on a pedestal or hanging.
In the
• Relief-Sculpture meant to be viewed from
only one side. Usually part of a wall or
other architectural feature.
• Low Relief (Bas relief)- coins, shallow
carved items
• High Relief -when a sculpture projects
boldly from the background. (They project
out at least half of their depth, but still
remain connected to a wall or structure).
Menkaure and Khamerernebty, Egypt,
c. 2400-2472 B.C.E.
Greywacke, 4’6”
The human figure in sculpture from the earliest
times depicted rulers with the wealth to employ
artists that were dedicated to depicting the ruler
and their deeds.
This work is HIGH relief. Carved almost completely
Around, but not in the back- where the pieces were
still connected to the stone / wall
Religious beliefs often manifested themselves in
Sculpture- bringing the intangible into the
“real” world.
This is a relief sculpture.
It is meant to be viewed frontally, the
way we view a painting.
Sarcophagus lid,
from the Temple of Inscriptions,
Palenque Chiapas, mexico,
Maya, limestone, 684 CE
Elements of Art – as they
pertain to sculpture
Form- a shape with three dimensions
– Forms have length, width and depth
– Forms can be organic or geometric (natural or
manmade)
Value- deals with the lightness or darkness of
an object
– Value can refer to light or color
Elements
Space- the area
in, around,
between, above
and below
objects
Sculptures take up
positive space, but
can be made up of
both positive and
negative space (the
empty areas).
Barbara Hepworth (w video lnk)
Reclining Figure (1951) outside the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is characteristic
of Henry Moore's sculptures, with an abstract female figure intercut with voids
(interesting negative space). There are several bronze versions of this sculpture, but
this one is made from painted plaster.
http://www.search.com/reference/Henry_Moore
Louise Bourgeois, Maman, 1999, Bronze and steel
30’5”
(video link)
Methods and Materials
• Four Basic Methods for making a
sculpture
– Modeling – additive process
– Carving- subtractive process
– Casting- molds
– Assembling- additive process
Modeling
• In sculpture, manipulating a plastic
material such as clay or wax to create a
form.
• This is an additive process. Taking clay or
other pliable materials and adding them
together to create a shape or form.
Elements
Color- reflected light. Wavelengths of light
determine the color you see.
Color=Hue
Colors can be warm or cool, of high or low
intensity and have dark or light value
The saturation of color is the pureness of the
color
Casting
• The process of making a sculpture or
other object by pouring a liquid into a
mold, letting the liquid harden and
removing the hardened form from the
mold.
• Materials such as bronze, plaster, clay and
synthetic resins are poured into molds.
The Burghers of Calais, Auguste Rodin, 1884-85, cast bronze, 6’ 10” x 7’11” x 6’6”
(with video link)
Casting
• To create an exact replica of something, you first need to
create a mold.
• Molds are traditionally made from plaster, but can also
be made from plastics like latex.
• Once you have made a mold, you pour a liquid into it
and wait for the liquid to harden.
• After the liquid is hard, you open your mold and sand off
any blemishes caused by the seams of the mold.
• Using liquid clay or slip is an easy method. Melting metal
is slightly more difficult.
• This entire process is called “casting”.
Lost wax casting process
Click the image on the left to watch a great video on the lost
wax process- it will give you a great understanding
of mold making and casting!
Click the
bulldog mold
to watch a mold
making video
Carving
• A sculpture is carved, chipped, sanded,
cut or gouged out of a solid material.
• Wood and stone are the principle
materials for carving.
• This is a more aggressive approach to art
making. Both wood and stone tend to
resist the artists’ tools.
wood sculptures - carved
The Clubs of Bamako, Installation at Deitch Projects, New York, Coulibaly Siaka
Paul, Emile Guebehi and Koffi Kouakou, sculptors with photographs by Malick Sidibe,
Detail, The Clubs of Bamako
Click on this
image to
find out more
about this work(this link only
works while you
are in slideshow
mode and
connected to
the internet)
If you knew how much work went
into it, you wouldn’t call it genius”.
-Michelangelo
Carved from Marble
http://www.teslasociety.com/mich4.jpg
Elements
Texture- an element dealing with how
something feels or looks like it feels
Textures can be rough or smooth. Think of
the glass versus a Triscuit cracker.
Actual texture is tactile (you can physically
feel it)
Visual texture is simulated texture. The
painting technique “trompe l’oeil” refers to
tricking the eye, or painting simulated
textures and patterns to create realistic
looking work.
(w video link)
Assembling
• The technique of
creating a
sculpture by
grouping or
piecing together
distinct elements.
An assembled
piece may be
Untitled #1111 (Little Ed’s Daughter Margaret), Petah
called an
Coyne 2003-2004, Wax, fiberglass cast statuary, velvet,
satin, ribbon, thread, PVC pipe and fittings, steel
assemblage.
understructure, branches, fabricated branches, silk flowe
wire, hat pins, tassels, feathers, pumps, irrigation tubing
water, hair, black paint
11’ tall
Rain Garden II ,Louise Nevelson
painted wood..31-1/2"x 47" x 4-1/2" (1977)
Royal Tide I, 1960
(w video link)
Elements
Time and Motion
Artists create or capture actual motion with
Kinetic art. (moving art).
Alexander Calder’s mobiles are among the
most famous kinetic art.
Implied Motion-art that leaves the viewer to
infer that motion has happened or time
has passed.
Calder
Mobiles
Click the image about to watch a vide
on Alexander Calder and his mobiles
Large scale sculpture+
installation art
This will segue into your next
power point on Installation art.
Christo and Jeanne Claude, Drawings for The Gates-
http://www.nyc.gov/html/thegates/html/letter.html Letter from the mayor of NYC regardin
The Gates
Christo and Jeanne Claude, The Gates, 1979-2005, Installation in Central Park
New York City, February 12 -27, 2005
Christo and Jeanne
Claude, sketches for
wrapped coast
Wrapped Coast
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia, 1968-69
Photo: Harry Shunk
© 1969 Christo
Working with Time or Place
Serpent Mound, near Locust Grove, Ohia, c. 1070 C.E. Overall length 1300’
In installations that she calls
Infinity Mirror Rooms, Yayoi
Kusama has explored how to
depict infinite space. Fireflies
on the Water is composed of
150 tiny lights hang over a
shallow pool of water in a small
room whose walls are covered
with mirrors. The combination
of direct and reflected light
creates a magical effect: space
appears infinite, with no top or
bottom, beginning or end. If
you entered this mirrored
space, you would see endless
images of yourself, reflected
into the distance. The work
creates the feeling of being
everywhere and nowhere at
the same time.
Yayoi Kusama in front of her installation Fireflies on the Water, 2002,
Mirror, plexiglas, 150 lights and water, 9’7” x 12’ x 12’
Fireflies on the Water, 2002, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Sculpture techniques
• Additive- a process of creating sculpture by
adding medium together. Gluing, welding or
attaching pieces to form a whole is an additive
process. Glue, paste, or tape used to hold
things together are called binders.
• Subtractive (reductive)- this process requires
you have a larger amount of medium and you
carve pieces out of it to create the form. Marble
sculpture carved out are subtractive.