THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEDIA SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION Crafts Architecture

Sculpture is defined as a three dimensional work of art (such as a statue). Sculpture is the action or art of processing (as by carving, molding, or welding) plastic or hard materials into works of art. There are four basic methods for making a sculpture: modeling, casting, carving, and assembling.

Louis Bourgeois. Maman Bronze, steel, and marble; height 30’

SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION

Modeling and assembling are considered additive processes. Carving is a subtractive process in which one starts with a mass of material larger than the planned sculpture and subtracts, or takes away, material. Casting involves a mold of some kind, into which liquid or semi liquid material is poured and allowed to harden.

Modeling Clay is the most common material sculptors use. Clay can be manipulated as long as it is wet. When the clay is dried and fired it becomes hard. Fired clay is called by the Italians terra cotta. Sculptors use same way as painters use drawing to test out ideas before committing to final work Example built up by hand, then sensitively worked with tools of stone/wood.

Casting Casting seems to be more of an indirect process for creating a sculpture. The most common method is the lost-wax process, sometimes known as by the French name, cire perdue.

Investment Casting Mold formed around solid sculpture Silicone is usually mold material Melted wax slushed around inside mold to about 3/16” thick Once hardened, wax casting removed, checked for accuracy Exact duplicate, but hollow Casting fitted with wax rods, pins, encased in solid plaster (investment) From here on process same as previous Key difference Mold makes wax casting reusable Multiple wax versions - editions

Luis Jimenez. Vaquero. Modeled 1980,cast Acrylic urethane, fiberglass, steel armature, height 16’7” fiberglass

Carving Carving is more aggressive than modeling, more direct than casting. The process involves the sculptor begins with a block of material and cuts, chips and gouges away until the form of the sculpture emerges. Materials are usually wood or stone.

Olowe of Ise. Bowl with figures. Early 2oth century. Wood, pigment;height 25”

Colossal Head. Olmec, B.C.E Basalt, 8’

Assembling Assembling is a process by which individual pieces or segments or objects are bought together to form a sculpture. Some people make a distinction between assembling, in which parts of the sculpture are placed on or near each other and constructing, in which the parts are actually joined together through welding, nailing or a similar procedure. Direct casting is the use of the object itself, such as a leaf, which is fitted with wax rods and encased in plaster.

XI Books III Apples, 1959 David Smith

David Smith. Cubi IX Stainless Steel, 8’93/4”x 4’105/8” x 3’77/8”

Mark di Suvero Origins, , Painted steel 36’7”x 18’3”x 17’10”

Petah Coyne, Untitled #1111 (Little Ed’s Daughter Margaret) Wax, fiberglass cast statuary, velvet, satin, ribbon, thread, steel understructure, PVC pipe and fittings, tree branches, fabricated tree branches, chickenwire fencing, wire, silk flowers, pearl-headed hat pins, tassels, feathers, pumps, irrigation tubing, water, hair, spray paint and acrylic paint, 11' high.

Direct casting is the use of the object itself, such as a leaf, which is fitted with wax rods and encased in plaster. Nancy Graves. Extend-Expand bronze with polychromed patina, 7’1”x4’3”

Alexander Calder. Ordinary painted steel, 19’x 19’8 ¾” x 19’ stationary mobile

Relief sculpture Relief sculpture is work that is viewed from one side only. Relief sculpture is three-dimensional but not in the round. It is used to decorate architecture or functional objects. When a sculpture projects more from the background it is called high relief (or haut-relief). Low relief (bas relief) – coins are examples of low relief. High relief (haut relief) – projects by at least half its depth from a background.

Sarcophagus Lid, from the Temple of Inscriptions, 684 B.C.E. Limestone Low relief (bas relief)

High relief (haut relief) Durga Fighting theBuffalo Demons, Mahishamardini Cave.

Sculpture in the round Auguste Rodin. The Burghers of Calais

The Human Figure in Sculpture

Contrapposto Contrapposto is a stance developed by Greek artist for standing figures. Contrapposto, meaning “counterpoise” or “counterbalance,” sets the body in a gentle S-shaped curve through a play of opposites

Contrapposto

Michelangelo. The Dying Slave Marble

Henry Moore abstract human sculptural forms that complemented the English landscape.

Kiki Smith. Honey wax Beeswax,

Environmental sculpture 1. Sculptures you can walk into and thru 2. Sculptures displayed outdoors 3. Sculptures that are part of the natural landscape. Working with TIME and PLACE

Serpent Mound, near Locust Grove, Ohio. C c.e. overall length c. 1300’ Adena culture constructed ritual shapes, called “effigy mounds

Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc in Manhattan 120 ft long, 12 ft high slab of Cor- Ten steel Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan Public Art

Andy Goldsworthy. Reconstructed Icicle, Dumfriesshire, Icicles, reconstructed and refrozen

Icestar

Coulibaly Siaka Paul, with photographs by Malick Sidibe The Clubs of Bamako

Richard Hunt. Jacob’s Ladder Bronze, 18’ Site specific

Louis Bourgeois. Red Room (Child), exterior Installation: wood, metal, thread, glass

Dan Flavin. Untitled (to Karin and Walther), from the European series

Minimalist artists believed that art should offer a pure and honest aesthetic experience instead of trying to influence people through images or transmit the ego of the artist through self expression.

Christo and Jeanne Claude. Wrapped Reichstag. Berlin Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Projects such as the running fence and Wrapped Reichstag live on afterwards in preparatory sketches, photographs, books, and film. Their art is not just the end result, but the entire process from planning through dismantling, including the way it energizes people and creates relationships

Jeff Koons Puppy Flowers, Plants