CH 9 Sculpture

Micheal Doolan

A Cautionary Tale Continuum (hand modeled earthenware, adhered automotive nylon) yellow bear looks like play dough

Readymades

An ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist. 20th century artistic trend no assembly needed

Bernini

Apollo and Daphne

Ron Mueck

Baby, modeled giant & Standing Woman

Pablo Picasso

Bull's Head

Stone

Chisel, mallet and rasp used to carve stone. Bernini's Apollo and Daphne. Can display textures

Ursula Von Rydingsvard

Droga

Louise Bourgeois

Eyes (marble) two round balls on top of slap of marble

Po Shun Leong

Figure (mahogany with hidden drawers)

George Rickey

Five Open Squares Gyratory (stainless steel)

Janine Antoni

Gnaw (chocolate)

Willie Cole

House Pet discreet, familiar, found objects can lose themselves utterly in their second lives as works of fine art.

Richard Serra

Installation view Guggenheim Museum

Ann Sperry

My Piano (galvanized metal, piano parts)

Modern and Contemporary Material and Methods

Pablo Picasso introduced constructed sculpture, built up of scraps of wood and found objects in his Cubist works. Constructed sculpture- pieces of wood, sheet metal, wire, plastic, cardboard, found objects constructed sculpture, assemblage, readymades, mixed media, kinetic sculpture, light sculpture, land art

Felix Gonzalez Torres

Perfect Lovers (readymade)

Louise Bourgeois

Portrait of Robert (began by modeling a pliable material and then converted the work to bronze thru a casting process) ***casting material looks like fingers with head in the center

Jean-Leon Gerome

Pygmalion and Galatea

Louise Nevelson

Royal Tide IV (wood with gold-spray technique)

Clael Oldenburg

Soft Toilet (vinyl filled with kapok painted with Liquitex and wood)

Free-Standing Sculpture (or called sculpture in the round)

Some is meant to be seen head on or installed in a way that the viewer cannot walk around

Rodin

The Thinker

Casting of human models

Three Figures and Four Benches George Segal- Three Figures and Four Benches (painted bronze)

Kiki Smith

Untitled (beeswax and microcrystalline wax figures)

Dan Flavin

Untitled (flourescent light)

Constructed Sculpture

artist "builds" the sculpture material cold include sheet metal, cardboard, celluloid or wire Some artworks are lighter than those from stone or wood Unorthodox material can also be used

Direct Metal sculptures

assembled by contemporary artists, often of steel, by welding, riveting, and soldering.

Wood

can be carved, scraped, drilled, polished, molded and bent Tensile strength (inherent strength of a material) exceeds that of stone, therefore parts of wood sculpture that protrude are less likely than stone pieces to break off. Tools include gouges, saws, knives, chisels, planes, mallets, sanders, and polishers Important to study the direction of the grain (strength of the wood is connected to its grain)

Subtractive process

carving; unwanted materials are removed

Casting

connection b/w modeling and casting. liquid metal material is poured into a mold to create form. mold- form into which the material is poured and imparts its shape. Any material that hardens can be used for casting. Bronze is one of the oldest and most common.

Modeling

done with hands or tools; pliable material such as clay or wax is built up, added, and shaped into a 3-D form usually the first in the concept or creation of a sculpture

Robert Rauschenberg

example of mixed media

Relief Sculpture

figures or images project to varying degrees from a 2-D plane (plank of wood or slab of marble). Intended to be viewed primarily from one perspective. Bas-Relief or low relief High Relief Freestanding sculpture

Assemblage

form of constructed sculpture in which pre-existing or found object, recognizable in shape are integrated and combined in novel combinations that take on their own meaning Compartmentalized assemblage of rough cut geometric shapes and lathed wooden pieces with unifying coat of paint.

Constructed Sculpture

forms are built from material such as wood, paper, string, sheet metal, and wire.

Carving

is a subtractive process, begins with a block of material and chips or cuts portions of it away until the desired result takes shape. Can use stone, wood, ivory, chocolate Ex: Michelangelo THE CROSS LEGGED CAPTIVE (man carved into stone)

Light Sculpture

light and its reflections have always been in important elements in sculpture Light sculpture is a 20th century art form

Lost Wax Technique (Hollow Casting or cire perdu)

lost wax or cire perdu creates a form and mold - inside of the mold filled or covered w/wax - wax is removed and covered in sandy mixture of silica, clay & plaster to create investiture (fire resistant mold into which the liquid metal will be poured)- wax is heated and poured out of the now sold investiture & replaced with liquid metal -finished metal sculpture is removed from investiture and burnished (treated chemically to take on a texture & color)

Metal

metals can be cast, extruded, forged, stamped, drilled, filled and burnishing to manipulate the material.

Additive process

modeling, casting, construction; material is added or built up to reach a desired form.

Clay

more pliable than stone or wood- clay is not very strong or permanent (unless exposed to heat, as in ceramics) Works in clay often show the artist's fingerprints and handprints. Armature- inner skeleton normally made of metal used to help give clay additional strength Sculptors use clay to make 3-D sketches, or models for works that are then casts in more durable materials such as bronze.

Bronze (patinas)

most popular casting material b/c of its surface and color characteristics. Chemical treatments can produce color ranging from greenish blacks to golden or deep browns. B/c of oxidation, bronze and copper surfaces age to a rich green or greenish blue patinas. Ex: Richard Serra, Installation view Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain Intended to be experienced and not simply viewed, to be walked around and thru.

Wood, Clay, Stone,Metal

most typical material used in sculpture

Readymade

object and images that already exist in the visual lexicon of high art and mass culture Sherrie Levine- Fountains after Duchamp (bronze)

Patina

oxidation changes bronze & copper surfaces that age to a rich green or greenish blue patina

Marchel Duchamp

readymade, Dada movement

Other Materials

sculpture today uses not only traditional materials, but also materials that have never been used before example: beeswax, microcrystalline wax, chocolate, styrofoam

Kinetic Sculptures

sculptures that move, art+action Forms of movement might include: wind, magnetic field, jets of water, electric motors, intensity of light, human manipulations

Maquettes

sometimes fashioned in clay by sculptors as a first draft of the final project.

Sculpture

the art of carving, casting, modeling or assembling materials into 3-D figures or forms

Mixed Media

use material and found objects that are NOT normally elements of a work of arrt

Deborah Butterfield

uses many different material to created her re-occurring subject.

Michelangelo

worked exclusively with single blocks of marble The Cross-Legged Captive (man carved in marble) "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free"