Hello there!
I just wanted to introduce you to the next segment of our tour through art media.
We’re going to take a look at sculpture and the world of three-dimensional media.
Sculpture is very different than painting, drawing, photography or other two-dimensional
work in its ability to step into the viewer’s world in a very direct and physical way.
When you experience sculpture, you don’t just experience it from one perspective, you
view it from multiple angles so it’s like a thousand compositions rolled into one.
You also relate to it differently.
When I go to Crystal Bridges and I step out of the elevators and see Louis Bourgeois’
“Maman” spider sculpture in the courtyard, I experience it in a direct way.
It towers over me, I walk underneath it—so again, there is a unique relationship with
the physical realm.
Three-dimensional art is as ancient as two-dimensional art and humanity has continued to sculpt forms
for aesthetic delight and engagement.
There are four different approaches to sculpture, sometimes depending on the media one uses.
There is carving, which involves cutting or chipping away a certain shape from stone,
wood, or other material.
This is considered to be a subtractive process, so material is taken away from the outside
in.
Michelangelo’s Pieta is an example of this approach to sculpture.
Then there’s modeling.
Modeled sculptures are created when a soft material like clay is molded and shaped to
create a form.
There’s assembling.
This is when sculptors gather and join different materials to create an assembled sculpture.
An example of this would be David Smith’s “Cubi” series in which he assembled these
stainless-steel geometric shapes to create these new forms.
Lastly, there’s casting.
This is when you have a material that is melted down—usually a metal—and that is then
poured into a mold.
The mold cools, and the metal hardens, and you have this form that emerges.
We see sculpture made from molds all the time—from plaster décor to chocolate Easter bunnies.
Molds are a economic way to create a form without it being solid.
Bronze casting has been going on for a long time, it was used a lot by the ancient Greeks,
and you can see it used to create famous works like Rodin’s “Thinker.”
When working with various media in sculpture, there are certainly pros and cons.
While softer material may be easier to form and mold, it’s also easier to break and
so it becomes important for the artist to really know the strengths and weaknesses within
each media.
Like every media, sculpture is an art form that continues to change and transform with
the currents of culture.
One of the three-dimensional art forms dominating contemporary art is called Installation art.
This is an art form that may even take up an entire room or gallery space because it’s
focused on how you the viewer experience the work.
Installation art is often put in a different category from sculpture because it tends to
be large-scale and is often designed for a specific place or for a certain period of
time.
I came to appreciate three-dimensional art when I took a sculpture class in college.
We had to create work in these various forms, and I realized how much thought and design
had to go into creating works that could be viewed from multiple angles in various lighting.
I also realized how much you have to really know the media—it’s potentials and pitfalls.
And I also came to appreciate just the physical demands of some of the media.
I remember being given a hammer and chisel and a block of stone, and forty hours later,
I can’t even lift my arms, and I have to bust out the Dremel.
So these experiences have certainly helped me appreciate the dedication of so many sculptors
to their craft and process, and it’s also exciting to see how new sculptural media and
methods continue to shape and transform three-dimensional art.
I hope you enjoyed this quick overview of sculpture.
We’ll see you next time!