Contemporary Sculpture

A Tiferes Grade 12 Production

We know that this is sculpture...

Pleased to

meet you...

… but what about this!

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/sculpture

So what is Sculpture?

Sculpture is a 3-dimensional object possessing height, width and depth. It occupies real space.

http://www.sculpture.org/documents/curriculm/essay.htm

There are different types of sculpture…..

Freestanding works can be viewed in the round; each position gives the viewer a different viewpoint.

is attached to a flat surface and projects outward from the background. The viewer looks at the relief from a straight-on position.

This image is of Pablo Picasso’s Still Life, 1914 and is made up of painted wood and upholstery fringe.

http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T01/T01136_9.jpg

A relief…..

Creating a Sculpture

The process of creating a sculpture can be different than creating a painting because certain materials, such as bronze or other metals, require a technician to assist in casting or cutting.

This sculpture is by Henry Moore.

http://tlfe.org.uk/imart/bretton%20park/Dcp_0424.jpg

Looking at a sculpture

http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/3d/plas4.html

Sculpture can be examined through the elements of line, colour, form, texture and of course, space. These plaster forms combine a smooth surface with texture.

You can also analyze how the elements are organized by looking at scale, balance, rhythm, proportion, emphasis, unity pattern and variety.

This image uses texture to create contrast while positive and negative space are similar in proportion to each other, creating unity. http://www.mmwindowtoart.com/3d/plas4.html

What are some of the factors that can influence a sculpture?

• the artist’s background, experience and vision

• cost and availability of materials

• location of sculpture

• trends and art movements

• cultural environment

• purpose of sculpture, eg. combined with function or to depict an event. http://www.sculpture.org/documents/curriculm/essay.htm

Spirit of Haida Gwaii, Bill Reid

Take a moment….

Brainstorm about the following and record in your book:Where would I like my sculpture garden to be? For example, your backyard, in a shopping centre, inside a court at the new school? Be as wild and creative as you’d like.

Then reflect on whether you’d like one huge sculpture, many little ones, created by you, created by a group, etc?

Modern sculpture ...

shows a steady movement towards abstraction. Subject matter is less important, the human figure abandoned. Emphasis is placed on the art object itself, or the idea behind the sculpture.

http://www.sculpture.org/documents/curriculm/essay.htm

Bird in SpaceConstantin Brancusi’s sculpture, 1928, polished brass, height 53”, demonstrates the new abstraction. He also placed a new emphasis on materials - stone had to look like stone - there would no longer be an effort to trick the eye. Integrity was the byword.

http://www.msubillings.edu/art/images/Abstraction/Constantin%2520Brancusi_Bird%2520in%2520Space_1928.jpg

Here is one of Brancusi’s stone scupltures. In describing the evolution of his art, he said: "One arrives at simplicity … as one approaches the real meaning of things." Two simple organic shapes predominate in his work: the egg and the elongated cylinder. The Sleeping Muse (1906, Museum of Art, Bucharest), shows a figure represented simply as a stylized ovoid head.

http://members.tripod.com/mihairadu/Brancusi.html

AssemblageStarting around the 1950’s, incorporating found objects, welding metal and recombining what already existed were techniques being chosen over traditional casting or modeling. The assemblage, joining together of found objects in a single meaning or context was especially used by American artists in the 50’s and 60’s.

Jean Dubuffet, French, 1901-1985

The Soul of Morvan, 1954Grape wood and vines mounted on slag base, with tar, rope, and metal(46.5 x 38.9 x 32.4 cm)

What is found art?

From Wikipedia.org:

Found art, or more commonly and less confusingly, 'Found Object' is a term used to describe art created from common objects not normally considered to be artistic. The idea behind found art is that the piece of art derives its significance from the context into which it is put. Found art blurs the traditional lines of what art is and questions the very nature of art itself.

Inukshuk

Granite sculpture outside of 2075 Bayview Ave., Sunnybrook Health Centre, "L"Wing

When found objects were taken out of their usual context, people were challenged to view the new associations they would create.

www.johndahlsen.com/ lastest_installation.html

Driftwood Assemblage # 1 (Diptych)John Dahlsen, 2004101cms x 194 cms 60 cms x 194 cmsFound objects (driftwood) on plywood.

Conceptual Art

During these years, conceptual art became an important idea in the art world. It was an art form in which the idea and the process by which it is presented take precedence over the physical or tangible product.

Conceptual art works sometimes exist only as descriptions of concepts or ideas. One of the reasons for this trend was to avoid the commercialization of art. Art was big business!

Marcel Duchamp is famous for some of the earliest examples of found art. For the work Fountain,1917, he signed a urinal with the pseudonym "R. Mutt" and mounted it face up. Why? Duchamp wanted to show the world that art could take any form.

In 2004, a poll of 500 art experts declared that Duchamp’s Urinal topped the list of the most influencial work of modern art of all time. HU??? "The choice of Duchamp's Fountain as the most influential work of modern art ahead of works by Picasso and Matisse comes as a bit of a shock," said art expert Simon Wilson. "But it reflects the dynamic nature of art today and the idea that the creative process that goes into a work of art is the most important thing - the work itself can be made of anything and can take any form."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4059997.stm

LoveThe 60’s was known as an era when people questioned traditions and values. Social commentary was expressed through sculpture and other media and popular culture became a favourite subject. Robert Indiana, who created this sculpture in 1976 said: “Some people like to paint trees. I like to paint love. I find it more meaningful than painting trees”.

www.writedesignonline.com/ history-culture/pop.htm

Apple Core

Apple Core, 1992Claes Oldenburg,

American, born 1929Stainless steel, urethane foam,

resin, and urethane enamel

Height: 3 m (9 ft 9 in)

The broadening of the definition of 3-dimensional art then extended itself to installations, in which the viewer could experience the work in different ways, not by just standing in front of it.

Where Life is Better,

Pat Badani,

2003

Multimedia Installation

http://www.ibiblio.org/pbadani/i_space1.html

Installations

Naomi London, Hope

Installation at the KofflerGallery, BJCC, 2005

The Minyan – Cyril Reade

Steel & Wood, installed in 1995 outside the BJCC

Vera Frenkel

Vera Frenkel is one of Canada's most renowned multidisciplinary artists, respected both internationally and at home. Her installations, videotapes, performances and new media projects address the forces at work in human migration, the learning and unlearning of cultural memory, and the ever-increasing bureaucratization of experience.

Body Missing, 1994+About the Nazi looting of art. The Body Missing comprises a 6 channelvideo installation and display and a web site. It has now toured 15 cities and 10 countries.

The GatesChristo & Jeanne-Claude

Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeThe Wall - 13,000 Oil BarrelsGasometer, Oberhausen, Germany 1999

Wrapped TreesThe Fondation Beyeler,Berower Park, Riehen, Switzerland

Another movement that emerged from conceptual art was that of earthworks or environmental art. Works were not installed in traditional venues of galleries and museums, but are built to be part of their surroundings.

Robert Smithson used the earth itself to create sculptural landscapes called earthworks.

Spiral Jetty was done through the use of heavy equipment moving earth around. Its form was invented by the the mound-building societies of early

native American people.

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/smithson_spiraljetty.jpg

Environmental Art

STOP!

Do you have something to say?!?!?!Do you want to make a statement?Or reflect something in your life?Or in nature?Or interpret something in a unique way?

Closer to Home… Toronto Sculpture

The Toronto Sculpture Garden opened in 1981. It is located at 115 King Street East and offers a variety of contemporary sculptures through different exhibitions.

The sculpture pictured to the right is Universal Man by Gerald Gladstone. The CN Railway commissioned Gladstone to produce a work of art to create a balance of human scale to the CN Tower. The work represents the largest bronze male figure in Canada.

The sculpture symbolizes earthbound human energies reaching towards a higher universal knowledge through communications.

http://www.geraldgladstone.ca/psc.htm

Recognize this?

Joshua Kalfa

Male Figure Sitting on a BenchCorten steel, 70" x 32" x 48"

Joshua Kalfa

UntitledSteel, Installed in 1992

at the BJCC, Koffler Gallery

                                                                                 

Ron Baird

Environment Canada Atmospheric Environment Service Installed June 1971 Title of Work:   The sculptor never gives names to any of his works,   however he uses the following verse to describe his sculpture (edited by teacher to avoid references to avodah zarah):

Three dark figures making the weather In folk, in myth, in legend One is isolate,Two is divisive,Three is peace. Three is Torment. Three is Potent. Power, Power, Power. Air, Fire, Water. Three dark figures Making the weather.

Ron Baird

ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO MEL LASTMAN SQUARE NORTH YORK CITY HALL

Welded steel, painted. Stainless steel cylinder etched,

8m high x 7m.

Ron Baird Snakes & Ladders Fence

Ron Baird Post-Modern Man, Sellers Swing Gate

Windswept Silhouette, Hilary Clarke Cole

                                         

A closer look at the gracefully arching pine being bent by the wind reveals the form of a woman, embodying our human connection to our wilderness heritage. The sculpture is rooted on a platform of Muskoka granite,and stands nine feet tall.-------------------------------------- Location:900 Don Mills Road, Tilley Endurables

And the critics say ...

Campsite Founding(Brad Golden and Lynne Eichenberg, at Simcoe Place Park 1994) Commemorates the contributions of John Graves Simcoe and wife Elizabeth to the establishment of Upper Canada.

What critics say: Doesn't suit the site. Should be moved closer to the lake - and maybe thrown in.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-10-21/news_insight_p.html

Another Pause…

Time to record some more ideas…

Will your work be permanent or temporary?

Will you use natural materials or man-made?

Are you inspired by anything you’ve seen in this PowerPoint or in Toronto or in your travels or in books or on the internet….. ?

Untitled (Mountain)(Anish Kapoor, at Simcoe Place Park 1995) "Was not necessarily created to pose any specific question or to seek a finite resolution to any particular issue," is what the city's Art Walk brochure says - which is where the controversy begins.

What critics say: A brave choice or complete waste of money, depending on whom you talk to.

Selections From The Synopsis Of Categories(Micah Lexier, inside Metro Hall 1992) An ode to city employees.

What critics say: A success. Allows for contemplation and doesn't get in the way of what you're there to do.

Glenn(Ruth Abernethy, at the south entrance of CBC Building on Front 1999)

Tribute to internationally renowned pianist Glenn Gould based on a photograph by Don Hunstein.

What critics say: Enough already with the statues of famous people sitting on benches.

The Audience

( Michael Snow, at Skydome, 1989) Animated figures face the city, turning the everyday activities and lives of its occupants into a spectacle.

What critics says. Whimsical, oddly fascinating and a good counterbalance to "artier" pieces in the city's collection.

Triad

(Ted Bieler, at Front and University, 1984)

Commissioned by Marathon Realty to mark Toronto's sesquicentennial and symbolize growth of our city.

What critics say: A rare example of corporate art that actually fits into its surroundings.

Gardiner East Public Art Project(overseen by artist John McKinnon) Columns of the former Gardiner Expressway restored to provide "a frame for the entranceway to the new urban corridor."

What critics say: Creates a surprising sense of space in windblown wasteland.

Innercity Gate

(Kosso Eloul, at Toronto General Hospital's Elizabeth Street entrance, 1978) One of many modular pieces by Eloul scattered across the city as part of a study in balance.

What critics say: Way too linear -- and way too many of them.

Sun Life

(Sorel Etrog, at University and King, 1984) Bronze commissioned by Sun Life Assurance Company and dedicated to the city.

What critics say: Tame. A good example of the bad art that happens when artists try to satisfy corporate clients instead of creating art for the public.

Interesting fact...

Sorel Etrog, a Jewish artist who was born in Romania, moved first to Israel and then settled in Canada, designed the statuette for the Genie awards in 1968. He is a member of the Order of Canada. He is also a writer and playwright.

The Archer, Three Way Piece No. 2

(Henry Moore, at Nathan Phillips Square 1966) Specially designed and created by Moore and purchased and erected for the city by private subscription.

What critics say: Exquisite. Conceived in relation to the notion of space.

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/city_hall_tour/images/archer_3_200.jpg

Monument to fashion industry(Stephen Cruise, at Richmond and Spadina) Nine-foot stack of coloured buttons capped by bronze thimble commemorates contributions of fashion industry workers.

What critics say: A good argument for bringing back wide-open competitions for public art projects.

Monument to Fashion

Sculptures in aGarden Setting

No Shoes(Mark Di Suvero, in High Park, 1967) A remnant of the Midsummer Night's Dream International Sculpture Symposium and one of two Di Suvero "sculptures" in High Park.

What critics say: We don't care - it looks like junk.

No Shoes

Patterns For The "Tree Of Life"( John McEwen, on Park Street, 1989) Commissioned by the city of Toronto and Crown Life Insurance Company.

Inscription: "In the faces of our children - in the songs of our voices."

. What critics say: Not the most inspiring addition to a public art collection obsessed with animals

November Pyramid(Bernard Schottlander, in High Park, 1967) Centrepiece of High Park sculpture garden and yet another commission of the Midsummer Night's Dream International Sculpture Symposium.

What critics say: Far less than local residents, who've defaced the piece so often that the city was forced to apply a protective wax coating in 1999.

Cameo Field by Stephen Cruise

Bronze & Wood at BJCC, installed in 2004

Memory Garden

Isamu Noguchi

Tengoku, 1977-78. Interior garden for Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan.  Photo:  Michio Noguchi.

Delegates Patio, Gardens for UNESCO, 1956-58, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France.

Detail of the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden, 1960-65, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Model for U.S. Pavilion, Expo 70, painted plaster. Unrealized. Collection of the Isamu Noguchi

Foundation, Inc.  Photo: Kevin Noble.

Garden Festival at Le Conservatoire de Chaumont

Resources

International Directory of Sculpture Gardenshttp://www.artnut.com/intl.html

Toronto Sculpture Garden115 King Street Easthttp://www.torontosculpturegarden.com

Toronto Sculptureshttp://www.ruthard.ca/art/bathurst.html