World off art 8th edtion by henry m sayre chapter 12

• Two examples of high-relief sculpture were the depictions of the Sacrifice of Isaac created by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti in competition to win the commission for the baptistery doo

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Sculpture

12

Learning Objectives

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1 Differentiate among relief, sculpture

in-the-round, and sculpture as an

environment.

2 Describe carving as a method of

sculpture and account for its

association with spiritual life.

3 Account for the popularity of molded

ceramic sculpture.

Learning Objectives

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4 Describe the casting process, and the

lost-wax process in particular.

5 Define assemblage and account for its

association with the idea of

transformation.

6 Compare and contrast installations and

earthworks as environments.

7 Describe how the body becomes

sculptural in performance art.

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• Sculpture employs two processes.

 Subtractive processes are when the

sculptor works with materials larger

than the finished work and the mass has pieces removed until the mass achieves its final form.

 Additive processes are when the artist

builds the work from added materials.

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• Sarah Sze's Triple Point (Pendulum) is

an additive work consisting of objects arranged in a circle and oriented like a compass.

 A pendulum hanging from the ceiling is

at the center of the work.

 The objects create a sense of purpose and randomness simultaneously.

Sarah Sze, Triple Point (Pendulum).

2013 Salt, water, stone, string, projector, video, pendulum, and mixed media,

dimensions variable

© Sarah Sze Courtesy of Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Victoria Miro Gallery,

London Photograph: Tom Powel Imaging [Fig 12-1]

The Three Forms of

Sculptural Space

• Sculptures intrude into the viewers' space as relief, in-the-round, and environments.

• Performance art can create a living sculpture from the bodies of its

performers.

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• A carved relief sculpture has

three-dimensional depth but is only meant to

be viewed from one side, or frontally.

• Low (bas-) relief and high (haut-)

relief are ways to describe this type of

sculpture according to how shallow or deep its characteristics are carved.

 High-relief sculptures project from their base by at least half their depth.

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• The Parthenon frieze, called Maidens

and Stewards, is considered low relief

and features naturalistic figures.

• Two examples of high-relief sculpture

were the depictions of the Sacrifice of

Isaac created by Brunelleschi and

Ghiberti in competition to win the

commission for the baptistery doors in Florence.

Maidens and Stewards, fragment of the Panathenaic Procession, from the east frieze of

the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens

447–438 BCE Marble, height approx 43" Musée du Louvre, Paris

Bridgeman Images [Fig 12-2]

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• Brunelleschi rendered his figures as

nearly fully realized 360-degree forms with the act of sacrifice taking place at center and the angel intervening

directly at the top.

• Ghiberti placed the act of Isaac's

sacrifice to one side, allowing for a

more dynamic representation of the

angel; he won the commission.

Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition relief commissioned for the doors of

the Baptistery, Florence

1401–02 Parcel-gilt bronze, 21 × 17-1/2" Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence [Fig 12-3]

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition relief commissioned for the doors of the

Baptistery, Florence

1401–02 Parcel-gilt bronze, 21 × 17-1/2" Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence [Fig 12-4]

Sculpture In-the-Round

• Freestanding sculpture demands

movement of the viewer to see it from all sides.

rising spiral of figures with each side

changing the viewer's experience.

 Giambologna's genius of composition

mattered more than the subject matter, which shifted after it was created.

Giambologna, The Capture of the Sabine Women.

1583 Marble, height 13' 6" Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence

© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence [Fig 12-5]

Giambologna, The Capture of the Sabine Women.

1583 Marble, height 13' 6" Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence

© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence [Fig 12-6]

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• Environments are sculptural spaces in

which viewers can enter or visually

explore.

• They are also referred to as

installations.

• Earthworks are large-scale outdoor

environments made from the land.

• Site-specific works were made to

transform a particular space.

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Neto designed for the Louis Vuitton

Tokyo store.

 The structure is a circle around a central axis that has been cut, and that the

viewer must link in their mind as they

walk across it.

 Imbalance makes the viewer

contemplate the concept of madness.

Ernesto Neto, TorusMacroCopula, one of four sculptures in Madness is Part of Life.

2012 Installation view, Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo, 2012–13 Polypropylene, polyester

string, and plastic balls, length 25' 7"

Courtesy of the artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, and Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Säo

Paolo [Fig 12-7]

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• Material being carved is chipped,

gouged, or hammered away from an inert block of raw material.

• Sculptors who work in wood must pay attention to the wood's grain, as

working against it could destroy the

work.

• Stone has different qualities and must

be worked with accordingly.

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• Michelangelo's "Atlas Slave" is

unfinished, a testament to the struggle

of working with stone as well as an

imaginative compromise by the artist.

• In ancient Egypt, stone funerary figures

were built to house an individual's ka

or spirit.

 Stone represented an enduring

permanence.

Michelangelo, "Atlas" Slave.

ca 1513–20 Marble, 9' 2" Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

© 2015 Photo Scala, Florence, courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att Culturali [Fig 12-8]

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naturalistic style.

lifelike posture and proportion.

example of contrapposto, or

counterbalance, where the figure's

weight falls on one foot and the

shoulders are turned, creating an

S-shape.

Menkaure with a Woman, probably Khamerernebty, from valley temple of Menkaure, Giza.

Dynasty 4, ca 2480 BCE Schist, height 4' 8" Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Boston Museum Fine Art Expedition, 11.1738 Photograph © 2015 Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston [Fig 12-9]

Kouros (a.k.a The Kritios Boy).

ca 480 BCE Marble, height 36"

Inv no 698 akg-image/De Agostini/G Nimatallah [Fig 12-10]

Praxiteles, Hermes and Dionysus.

ca 330 BCE Marble, height 7' 1" National Archaeological Museum, Athens

© Craig & Marie Mauzy, Athens [Fig 12-11]

• Clay can be made more durable by

firing it in a kiln, or oven, at high

temperatures.

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• Works of clay are called ceramics.

• Chinese mastery of ceramic art is

exemplified in the warriors found at the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi.

 More than 6,000 life-size figures of

soldiers and horses acted as immortal

bodyguards for the emperor.

Tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi.

221–206 BCE Painted ceramic figures, life-size

© O Louis Mazzatenta/National Geographic [Fig 12-12]

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• Casting involves a mold into which

molten material is poured and allowed

to harden.

 Bronze, brass, and other materials can

be poured into a mold.

• The Head of an Oba from Benin in the

eighteenth century was cast in bronze.

 The traditional heads are not portraits, but generalized images.

Head of an Oba, Nigeria, Africa, Edo, Court of Benin.

18th century Brass and iron, height 13-1/8" Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Gift of Mr and Mrs Klaus G Perls, 1991.17.2 © 2015 Image copyright Metropolitan

Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence [Fig 12-13]

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• Greeks perfected the lost-wax (or

cire-perdue) process of casting.

 A sculpture is modeled in a pliable

material, then a mold is made of the model.

 Wax is poured into the impression and

filled with an investment; then, the

mold is removed and wax rods are

applied.

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• Greeks perfected the lost-wax (or

cire-perdue) process of casting.

 Another investment covers the wax cast and it is baked in a kiln, where the wax runs out.

 Bronze is poured into the casting gate, a

replacement process for the wax that

had been there.

The lost-wax casting process [Fig 12-14]

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• Bronze can be joined either by a

hammer or by welding

• Auguste Rodin's Burghers of Calais was

welded together from individual pieces.

 He used the gestures of the hand to

create emotion in the piece.

 The sculpture was intended to be

viewed from the ground and individuals must walk around it to experience it.

Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais.

1884–85 Bronze, 6' 7-3/8" × 6' 8-7/8" Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, Calais, France

© imageBROKER/Alamy [Fig 12-15]

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• Bronze was long favored for outdoor

sculptural works, but aluminum and

fiberglass have become available in

more recent years.

• John Ahearn created Homage with

cast fiberglass made from plaster casts

of living subjects.

 He sought to capture the spirit of an

impoverished community with dignity.

John Ahearn, Homage to the People of the South Bronx: Double Dutch at Kelly Street 1:

Frieda, Jevette, Towana, Stacey.

1981–82 Cast fiberglass, oil, and cable, each figure 4' 6" × 4' 6" × 12"

Image courtesy of Alexander and Bonin, New York [Fig 12-16]

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• Assemblage is the process of bringing

individual objects together to form a

larger whole.

• Louise Nevelson's Sky Cathedral is a

frontal work that functions like a relief altarpiece, with wooden boxes

high-housing found objects and painted all in black.

Louise Nevelson, Sky Cathedral.

1958 Wood, painted black, 9' 7" × 11' 3" × 28" Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New

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• African cultures use assemblage to

create objects of spiritual significance.

 The display piece from the Yoruba

culture combines beadwork, cloth, and basketry to portray a royal wife.

 Designs play on geometric shapes and patterns as well as the principle of

"shine," or wholeness.

Display piece, Yoruba culture.

Early 20th century Cloth, basketry, beads, and fiber, height 41-1/4" The British

Museum, London

Af1924,-.136 © The Trustees of the British Museum [Fig 12-18]

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• Jeff Koons's kitschy sculptures recreate commodity culture.

 One of his most audacious works is

Puppy, consisting of a stainless steel

armature with irrigation lines and live

flowering plants.

• It was inspired by the extravagance of the palace of Versailles.

Jeff Koons, Puppy.

1992 Stainless steel, soil, geotextile fabric, internal irrigation system, and live flowering plants, 40' 6" × 40' 6" × 21' 4" The Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, New York

Art Archive/Neil Setchfield Art © Jeff Koons [Fig 12-19]

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• Robert Gober juxtaposes fragments of domestic life to create works that seem somewhat nightmarish.

 Untitled leaves an open-ended meaning,

evoking a wide range of American

clichés.

• The sink lacks real water spigots, as they have been replaced with two left legs of

a young girl.

Robert Gober, Untitled.

1999 Plaster, beeswax, human hair, cotton, leather, aluminum pull tabs, and enamel

paint, 33-1/2 × 40 × 24-3/4" Philadelphia Museum of Art

Gift (by exchange) of Mrs Arthur Barnwell, 1999 © 2015 Photo Philadelphia Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence Photo: Graydon Wood © Robert Gober Courtesy of

Matthew Marks Gallery [Fig 12-20]

Installations and Earthworks

• The introduction of a work of art into

an unexpected environment can be

transformative, causing us to readjust our expectations for art.

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• Nancy Rubins's Pleasure Point is

attached to the roof of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego.

 It features a conglomeration of boats

that have been placed in the air rather than in the water.

and appears weightless to the eye

despite weighing some 100 tons.

Nancy Rubins, Pleasure Point.

2006 Nautical vessels, stainless steel, stainless-steel wire, and boats,

25' 4" × 53' 1" × 24' Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego

Museum Purchase, International and Contemporary Collectors Funds © Nancy Rubins Collection Photo: Pablo Mason Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery [Fig 12-21]

Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate.

2004 Stainless steel, 33 × 66 × 42' Millennium Park, Chicago

© Arcaid Images/Alamy Courtesy of the City of Chicago and Gladstone Gallery, New

York and Brussels © Anish Kapoor [Fig 12-22]

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• Eleanor Antin's Minetta Lane—A Ghost

Story features three narrative films

projected onto tenement windows.

 The ghost of a little girl destroys the

scenes in these videos.

 The lovers and old man represent ideas about art, sexuality, and life that no

longer pertain.

Eleanor Antin, Minetta Lane—A Ghost Story.

1995 Mixed-media installation Installation view

Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York [Fig 12-23]

Eleanor Antin, Minetta Lane—A Ghost Story.

1995 Mixed-media installation Video still showing actors Amy McKenna and Joshua

Coleman

Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York [Fig 12-24]

Eleanor Antin, Minetta Lane—A Ghost Story.

1995 Mixed-media installation Video still showing artist's window with Miriam (the Ghost)

Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York [Fig 12-25]

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• Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is an

exemplary work that is landscape,

simply created by man.

 It is made by mud, salt crystals, rocks, and water.

 The spiral shape is one that represents ornamentation of many cultures across time.

 It was subject to changes in nature.

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty.

April 1970 Great Salt Lake, Utah Black rock, salt crystals, earth, red water (algae),

3' 6" × 15' × 1,500'

Collection: Dia Art Foundation, New York Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York and Shanghai Art ©Holt Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York [Fig 12-

26]

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty.

As it appeared in August 2003 Photo: Sandy Brooke [Fig 12-27]

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• Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is an

exemplary work that is landscape,

simply created by man.

 The work was directly inspired by the

Great Serpent Mound earthwork in Ohio.

• It was built by the Hopewell culture between 600 BCE and 200 CE

• It may have served a ceremonial purpose.

Great Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio, Hopewell culture.

ca 600 BCE–200 CE Length approx 1,254'

Tony Linck/SuperStock [Fig 12-28]

of arrowhead leaf plants in a pond

meant to reflect man's regimented

effect on the nature around it.

Karen McCoy, Considering Mother's Mantle, project for Stone Quarry Hill Art Park,

Cazenovia, New York

1992 View of gridded pond made by transplanting arrowhead leaf plants, 40 × 50'

Photo courtesy of the artist [Fig 12-29]

Karen McCoy, Considering Mother's Mantle, project for Stone Quarry Hill Art Park,

Cazenovia, New York (detail)

1992 Gridded pond made by transplanting arrowhead leaf plants, 40 × 50'

Photo courtesy of the artist [Fig 12-30]

Art Parks

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• Zhang Huan's Three-Legged Buddha is

a recent addition to the Storm King Art Center.

 It was conceived as a tribute to all

Buddha sculptures destroyed in China's Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s.

 Incense burns inside the sculpture and rises through the perforations and

hatches accessible to viewers.