Transcript Chapter 1.2 Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts By

PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.2
Three Dimensional Art:
Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Three Dimensional Art
 Three-dimensional works

Have height, width, and depth

Pyramids are an example

Possess four of the visual elements:
form, volume, mass, and texture
1.28 Three dimensions: height, width, and
depth
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Form
 Shapes are flat; forms are three-dimensional
 Scale refers to the size of an object
 Forms have two fundamental attributes: volume and mass

Volume is the amount of space a form occupies

Mass is the expression of solidity
 Texture is the sensation of touching

Artists sometimes evoke our memory of touch
 Materials can communicate ideas
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.29 Great Sphinx of Giza, c. 2650
BCE, Giza, Egypt
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Geometric Form
 Regular forms, readily expressible in words or numbers

Cubes, spheres, cylinders, cones, and pyramids are simple
examples
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.30 Great Pyramid of Khufu, c. 2560 BCE, Giza, Egypt
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Video:
The Pyramids of Giza
Click the image above to launch the video
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.31 David Smith, Cubi XIX, 1964.
Stainless steel, 113¼ x 21⅝ x 20⅝”
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Organic Form
 Organic forms are derived from living things
 Irregular and unpredictable
 Can be used for expressive effect
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.32 Vesperbild (Pietà), Middle
Rhine region, c. 1330. Wood,
34½” high. Rheinisches
Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany
1.33 Lino Tagliapietra, Batman, 1998. Glass, 11½ x 15½ x 3½”
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Form in Relief and in the Round
 A relief is a work in which forms project from a flat
surface
 It is designed to be viewed from one side only
 A form in the round can be seen from all sides
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.34 Imperial Procession, from the Ara Pacis Augustae, 13 BCE. Marble altar. Museo dell’Ara Pacis, Rome, Italy
1.35 Stela with supernatural
scene, Mexico or Guatemala, 761
CE. Limestone, 92 x 42 x 3”. Fine
Arts Museums of San Francisco
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Volume
 Volume is the amount of space occupied by an object
 Architectural forms usually enclose a volume of interior
space to be used for living or working
1.36 Volume and mass
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Open Volume
 When artists enclose a space with materials that are not
completely solid, they create an open volume
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.37a Ralph Helmick and Stuart
Schechter, Ghostwriter, 1994.
Cast metal/stainless cable, 36 x 8
x 10’. Evanston Public Library,
Illinois
1.37b Detail of Ghostwriter
1.38 Vladimir Tatlin, Model for
Monument to the Third
International, 1919
1.39 Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse, In the Blue (Crest), 2008. Painted cypress, 24 x 108 x 11’.
Installation at St. Petersburg Art Center, Florida
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Mass
 Mass suggests that something is solid and occupies space
 Our perception of mass is derived from our imagination,
our previous experience with smaller objects, and our
understanding of the forces of nature
 Mass can suggest weight in a three-dimensional object
 Mass does not necessarily imply heaviness, only that a
volume is solid and occupies space
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.40 Colossal Head,
Olmec, 1500–1300 BCE. Basalt.
Museo de Antropología,
Veracruz, Mexico
1.41 Rachel Whiteread, House,
1993. Concrete. Bow, London,
England (demolished 1994)
1.42 Marisol (Escobar), Father
Damien, 1969. Bronze, State
Capitol Building, Honolulu, Hawaii
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Texture
 Texture is the tactile sensation we experience when we
physically encounter a three-dimensional form
 When we think of texture, we mostly rely on the
impressions we receive from our hands
 When we look at a surface we can imagine how its
texture feels
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
1.43 Nam June Paik, TV Buddha, 1974. Closed-circuit video installation with bronze sculpture, monitor, and video camera,
dimensions vary with installation. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1.44 Méret Oppenheim, Object, 1936. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon, 2⅞” high. MOMA, New York
1.45 Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, 1997, Bilbao, Spain
1.46 Louise Bourgeois, Maman, 1999 (cast 2001). Bronze, stainless steel, and marble, 29’4⅜” x 32’9⅛ x 38’1”. Guggenheim
Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Conclusion
 Three-dimensional art is expressed in height, width,
and depth
 Forms can be geometric or organic
 Volume is the amount of space occupied by the form
 Mass is the impression that the volume is solid and
occupies space
 The surface of the form can be described in terms of
its texture
 Artists can use the language of three-dimensional art
to express many ideas and emotions
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 1.2
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts
By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios
Chapter 1.2 Three Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Picture Credits for Chapter 1.2
1.28
Ralph Larmann
1.29, 1.30 Photo Heidi Grassley © Thames & Hudson Ltd, London
1.31
Photo courtesy the Marlborough Gallery Inc., New York. © Estate of David Smith/DACS, London/VAGA, New York
2011
1.32
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn
1.33
Photo Russell Johnson. Courtesy Lino Tagliapietra, Inc.
1.34
Museo dell’Ara Pacis, Rome
1.35
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Museum Purchase, Gift of Mrs Paul Wattis 1999, 42 a-k
1.36
Ralph Larmann
1.37a, 1.37b Photo Clements/Howcroft, MA, USA. Courtesy the artists
1.38
Photo Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
1.39
Photo Andrew Hawthorne. Courtesy the artists
1.40
Photo Irmgard Groth-Kimball © Thames & Hudson Ltd, London
1.41
Photo Sue Ormerod. © Rachel Whiteread. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, London
1.42
© Marisol, DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2011
1.43
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
1.44
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase, Acc. no. 130.1946.a-c. Photo 2011, Museum of Modern Art, New
York/Scala, Florence. © DACS 2011
1.45
© Romain Cintract/Hemis/Corbis
1.46
© Louise Bourgeois Trust/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2011
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios