Largest carving in the world from a single stone
Artists sculpted the living rock
Symbol of the power to change our surroundings
Name derived from Greek, not Egyptian, mythology
Great Pyramid of Khufu The Importance of Geometric Form
Regulated and controlled geometric form
Stands as a monument to the engineering and construction skills of the ancient Egyptians
Base of Khufu’s pyramid is level to within less than an inch
Greatest difference in the length of the sides is 1¾”
Originally encased in fine white limestone
Egyptian art and architecture exhibit carefully ordered and controlled characteristics
Work of these artists was governed by a canon, or set of rules
David Smith, Cubi XIX
Uses cubes, cuboids, and a thick disk
Combines geometric forms in angular relationships
Diagonal angles imply movement
Smith learned welding in an automobile factory and became expert while fabricating tanks of thick armor plate during World War II
Vesperbild (Pietà)
The human body is an organic form
Artists can use irregular awkward forms for expressive effect
Artist distorted the bodies of Mary and Jesus to communicate pain and suffering
Twisting and distorting Mary’s face expresses sorrow
Lino Tagliapietra, Batman
Artist uses a form that is lively and organic
The natural energy of light is captured in the glowing transparency of the glass
The artist says of this work:
“I imaged pieces that allow the viewer to see both the reality and fantasy of Batman’s world.”
Imperial Procession, from the Ara Pacis Augustae
A relief can be mounted on a wall or other surface
A sculptor can create the illusion of a three-dimensional space, with dramatic results
The unknown artist uses the depth of the carvings to suggest that some areas of the composition are farther away from us than others
The figures in the foreground are deeply carved (in high relief)
The figures behind those in the foreground are also carved in relief, but not quite so deeply
The artist suggests even greater depth by using a third group of figures who are carved in shallow relief
Stela with supernatural scene
Done in bas-relief (low relief)
Stela: upright stone slab decorated with inscriptions or pictorial relief carvings
All elements of the composition are of equal depth
Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schechter, Ghostwriter
An open volume that, when looked at as a whole, creates the image of a large human head
Made of carefully suspended pieces of metal
In the stairwell where the piece hangs, the empty space and the “head” are not distinct or separate, but the shape is nonetheless implied
Detail
Vladimir Tatlin, Monument to the Third International
Intended to be a huge tower
To commemorate the triumph of Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution
Never built, but it would have been much higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Spiraling open volume of the interior
Designed to be made from steel and glass
Tatlin believed that art should support and reflect the new social and political order
Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse, In the Blue (Crest)
Open volume can make a work feel light
Creating negative space (the openings between the wooden slats) makes the work seem to float
Many subtle changes in direction
The artists hope that viewers will experience a feeling of being surrounded by water as they walk through the passage
Colossal Olmec Heads Mass and Power
The monumental quality of some artworks is directly related to their mass
The sheer size of the work was almost certainly intended to impress and overwhelm
At La Venta, Mexico, three heads were positioned in a “processional arrangement”
The massive scale of this head makes an imposing statement
Size suggests the power of a mighty ruler or an important ancestor
Rachel Whiteread, House
Suggests great weight and solidity
Filled the interior space of a house with tons of concrete
This building’s interior was transformed into a lasting memorial of the lives of the people who used to live in it
Associations with life and death, memory, and change
Marisol (Escobar), Father Damien
Father Damien was a Catholic missionary who supervised a leper colony on the Hawaiian island of Molokai during the nineteenth century
Steadfast compassion is suggested by the foursquare mass of Marisol’s work
The stout form communicates stability and determination
Father Damien died of leprosy while serving its victims
Nam June Paik, TV Buddha
Viewers experience actual texture when they see and touch the work
The artist successfully draws on our past tactile experiences to give us a fuller experience of the artwork
The low-tech sense of touch contrasts with the high-tech process of capturing a visual image
A camera installed in the work shoots video of the actual texture and translates it into an image that can be experienced only from our tactile memory
Méret
A subversive texture contradicts our previous tactile experience
Artists and designers use the contradictions and contrasts of subversive texture to invite viewers to reconsider their preconceptions about the world around them
Méret Oppenheim (1913-85) used texture to contradict the conscious logical experiences of viewers
The artist counts on our tactile memory to conflict with the actual experience
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Bilbao was once a center for ship-building, and the undulating surfaces of Gehry’s creation suggest ships and ship construction
Uses contrasts in geometric and organic form
Gehry used computer programs originally invented for aerospace design
Irregular, curving organic forms that rise and fall unpredictably
Employs both sculptural relief and in-the-round forms
Covered with titanium tiles
Louise Bourgeois, Maman
Means “Momma” in French
The sculpture stands beside the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. The museum’s apparently solid mass is contrasted with the spindly form and open volume of Maman
The subtle variations of angle in the legs imply movement
Even though this spider is made of bronze, the effect is one of lightness
Bourgeois wants to suggest both the tenderness and the fierce protectiveness of motherhood