The Work - The EFA Rep

is a publication of Kalamazoo RESA’s Education for the Arts,
Aesthetic Education Program
Windows on the Work Committee
Editor:
Window Narrator
Research:
Contributors
Nick Mahmat
Megan Buchanan Schopf
Megan Buchanan Schopf
Hilary Anthony
Leslie Boughton
Nancy Gagliano
Nancy Husk
Honore Lee
Angie Melvin
Michele VanderBeek
Mary Whalen
Special Thanks To:
The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Karla Niehus
Design:
Nick Mahmat
Education for the Arts
Interim Director:
Doug Knobloch
Director’s Secretary:
Kris DeRyder
Coordinator:
Deb Strickland
Aesthetic Education Program Coordinator:
Nick Mahmat
Alternative and Special Education Arts Initiative
Program Coordinator:
Angie Melvin
Comments or questions about this publication may be directed to
Nick Mahmat, Aesthetic Education Program Coordinator at
488-6267 or [email protected]
Strategies for using the Window on the Work
Purpose
The purpose of the Window on the Work is to provide educators and teaching artists with
contextual information pertaining to the focus works presented by the Education for the Arts
Aesthetic Education Program. This information can fuel the educational process between
educators and teaching artists in developing the lesson plans and can offer additional pathways
(windows) into the repertory and possible connections to existing school curriculum.
There are several ways that the information may be shared. For instance:
• •
• Each educator reads a section and reports back to the school team in the planning process
• Questions are brainstormed about the work of art and then researched by the educators
• Additional resources are identified for further investigation
•
In the planning
process, use the
Window on the Work:
During the unit
of study, use the
Window on the Work:
After the unit of
study, use the
Window on the Work:
• To brainstorm themes for
study development
• As a reference tool as
questions and interests
develop in the planning
session
• To elaborate and expand
the instructional focus that
has developed out of the
planning process
• To learn more about the
work of art
• To consider possible
responses to the question
pages as the Window is
read
• To discover connections
to other work by the same
artists and to other works
in the same genre
• To expand on a lesson
idea
• As a reference to respond
to students’ questions
• To keep the discussion
about the work alive in the
classroom
• For source material
such as artist quotes or
background information
that may be utilized when
incorporating contextual
information experientially
into a workshop.
• To discover additional
connections
• To continue discussion
about the work
• To compare to other
works of art the class
may study in the future
• To expand curriculum
study in the classroom
on a particular culture,
period in history, etc.
• As a jumping-off point
to make connections
with other classroom
activities, personal
connections, and
courses of study
Windows on the Work are written for Classroom Teachers and Teaching
Artists working in the Aesthetic Education Program and as such are not
written or intended for a student audience. The Window on the Work
publications should be used for planning purposes and should not be
shared with student prior to attending the work of art under study.
The
Work
The Work
The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts presents art that literally
and figuratively could be described as “off the wall.”
These rarely seen sculptural objects from the collection of
the Kalamazo Institute of Arts include both sculpture and
functional objects. From humor to social commentary,
realism to abstraction, found object assemblage to hand
blown glass, more than 60 works offer great variety and
something for everyone.
The works from the 1950s to the present demonstrate
the 20th-century impulse to push the boundaries of
fine art. Some artists created unexpected, abstract
forms using traditional materials. Artists also dared to
use commonplace or industrial materials that flaunted
the conventions of fine art. Ceramicists made vessels
unconstrained by functionality.
While a painting might present a two-dimensional illusion
of the world, a three-dimensional work of art exists
directly in your environment, making you interact with it
as an object in your space.
The following section contains information and images of
the works of featured in Off the Wall. Please consider the
following questions as you veiw each image?
•
What do you notice? Describe the object of art in
detail?
•
What stands out to you about the work?
•
How would you describe the choices the artists
are making in the creation of their sculpture?
•
What choices are availble to artists that work in
3-dimensions that may not be available in a 2
dimensional form?
•
What choices are the artists making? Describe
what the artists have done.
Martin Craig
La Tete Bombe, 1962
bronze
Gift of the Longview
Foundation, 1961/2.536
Deborah Butterfield
Hoku (Untitled 2411), 2001
Unique cast bronze
Max Ernst
Elf, 1966
cast glass
Gift of Mrs. H. F. Muntz, 1987/8.4
Mary Frank
Untitled Wood Figure on Two Pedestals, 1959
wood
Gift of the Longview Foundation, 1961/2.294
Ruth Duckworth
Large Vessel, 1977
stoneware
Director’s Fund Purchase, with support
from the Student Sale Fund, and Donations, 1977/8.115
William Farrell
Smoked Popeye, 1977
earthenware
Director’s Fund Purchase, 1977/8.128
Donald Reitz
Form #1, 1977
salt-glazed
stoneware
Director’s
Fund Purchase, with
support from
the Student
Sale Fund, and
Donations,
1977/8.123
Noi Volkov
Leonardo’s Beauty, 2004
glazed earthenware, slip cast
Elisabeth Claire Lahti Fund Purchase, 2006.46
Beverly Pepper
Torre Pieno nel Vuoto II, 1969
stainless steel and baked enamel
Elisabeth Claire Lahti Fund Purchase, 1999.16
Tony Winchester
Red pedestal Teapot, 2006
stoneware, wheelthrown, altered and faceted
Gift of Zoe and Harold Schuitmaker, 2006.45
Peter Voulkos
Yellow Stone Saga, 1985-1988
anagama woodfired stoneware
Gift of Richard and Ethel Groos, 1998.1
Paul Flickinger
Mayan Memory Vessel #4,
1999
pit-fired stoneware and
watercolor
Purchase, the Ward H.
and Cora E. Nay Director’s
Fund, 1999 Area Show,
1999.19
Edward Eberle
Under the Cloud
Porcelain
Elisabeth Claire Lahti Fund Purchase, 2011.31
Pregnant Lady Vessel,
Covered Jar, 1977
stoneware
Director’s Fund Purchase,
with support from the
Student Sale Fund, and
Donations, 1977/8.112.1
Maria Scott
Salt Bowl, 1999
pit-fired stoneware, salt, sticks
Permanent Collection Fund Purchase,
2000.37
Stephen Hansen
Bird Watcher
1977
papier mache and feathers
Don Harvey
Chemical Horizon, 1991
ink jet photograph on aluminum panel,
steel, vinyl tubes, oil, and antifreeze
Gift of the artist
2003.23
Karla Wyss-Tye
The Night Bird’s
Apprentice, 1995
Bronze
Anonymous gift,
2000.16
The
Artist
The Artist
The following section contains information on
select artists included in the exhibition Off the
Wall. You may wish to consider the following
questions as you read.
Who are the artists whose work is featured in
Off the Wall: Art in Three-Dimensions?
In what ways were they trained or prepared
as artists?
What lead them to becoming a sculptor?
How do they describe their own work or
working process?
“When I work I think a lot. Mostly it’s not about that which is in front of me. That action is generally a
spontaneous response. I think about who is forming whom at this moment.”
“Over the years, time has allowed me to manipulate my forms and surfaces with some degree of innate intelligence and personal satisfaction. Time, an essential ingredient in firing, hardens and colors
the clay, but also gives me time to think and look inward.
William Farrell (1936- ) studied art, and education at Penn State University and Ceramics at the top
American school for the ceramic arts: Alfred University. He taught ceramics and drawing at Purdue
University and at the Art Institute in Chicago, IL, while also exhibiting and lecturing around the world. He had studios in several countries and has worked internationally for many years. His Popeye sculptures received the first NEA award in ceramics in 1982. He travels extensively around the world.”
Jesus Raphael – Soto (1923--2005) -- was born in Venezuela in 1923. Jesus Rafael Soto studied
at the School of Fine Arts at Caracas. From 1947 to 1950 he directed the School of Fine Arts of Maracaibo. He then moved to Paris where he discovered the masters of pure non-figurative art, Mondrian and
Malevich. Soto is best known for his use of modern materials such as nylon filament thread, metal rods,
steel, aluminum, perspex (transparent acrylic resin) and industrial-grade paint. Soto has gone further than
anyone else in posing the great problem of the active participation of the public in the objective existence
of the work of art. In fact not only does perception depend on the voluntary or involuntary movements of
the viewer, but between the work and the viewer there is a real and profound relationship established, as if
the viewer made a personal and direct contribution to the succession of visual effects by which he has attracted. His relationship can be likened to that between a musician and his instruments: the viewer “plays”
the artist’s work. As in the case of many other artists coming to the fore in the 1960s, his work has been
promoted by means of a vast production of multiples, graphic works and objects.
“I have always tried to make art where given forms, even geometric ones, don’t count. My investigations have nothing to do with the objects themselves. My painting tries to represent movement, vibration, light, space, time, things that exist but which do not have a determined form, and the only way I
have found to do this is to attempt to represent the relationships between them. Relationships are an
entity, they exist and so they can be represented.”
George Rickey (1909 – 2002) began his artistic career as a painter. After a stint in the army during
WWII, Rickey shifted his focus to sculpture and began creating kinetic sculpture. In his own work, Rickey
combined his love of engineering and mechanics, Smith’s graceful, yet solid, cubic forms, and the mobiles
of Alexander Calder. He was able to design sculptures whose metal parts moved in response to the slightest air currents. These parts were often very large, sometimes weighing tons.
Most of his work was created in his studio in East Chatham, NY, where he moved after taking a position
as a professor of architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. As a very small child in South
Bend, he was fascinated by the window latches in his South Bend home. “One expects the latch to open
by pulling, but it’s a conical crank, you see.” This design shows up in many of the most emblematic of
George Rickey’s works, where the axes of motion are surprising given the rectilinear forms of his work.
Artists
Donald Reitz (1929 - ) is a professional artist living in Arizona. He has been named Professor
Emeritus for the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. He has been honored in Ceramic Monthly
Reader’s Roll as “One of twelve greatest living ceramic artists worldwide” and cited by the Maori people of
New Zealand and carved on their totem pole for “Distinguished leadership in the dispensing of knowledge
to peoples.” Christopher P. Staley received his BFA from Wittenberg University and his MFA from Alfred University. Currently, he is professor of Ceramics/Pottery for Penn State University. He is a well-known artist and educator and
a master in ceramic art. His powerfully made forms set up an interaction between light and dark, density and
delicacy. He has a fascination with materials and what they can do.
“The essence of making pots for me is about being human. It’s about fragility and strength. It’s about the
intimate moment when the handle of a cup touches the hand.”
Stephen Hansen (1950 - ) Since beginning to sell his work as a teenager, Hansen has had no shortage
of private and corporate sponsors, as well as exhibitions. His work is both satirical and whimsical, yet never
conventional; Hansen is more interested in defying traditional art forms. He works in paper maché and metal
and is self-taught. “I work primarily in paper maché, the appeal of which is twofold. First, it is fast enough that I can try out
ideas without any sense of commitment. Secondly, it is a material so inherently humble that I can claim to
make ‘cultural icons’ or ‘distilled social observations’ without feeling too pretentious.”
Peter Voulkos (1924 - 2002) first studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University, then earned
an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware,
but soon garnered national recognition for his large, well crafted vessels. Voulkos’ sculptures are famous for
their visual weight, their freely-formed construction, and their aggressive and energetic decoration. He would
vigorously tear, pound, and gouge the surfaces of his pieces. At some points in his career, he cast his sculptures
in bronze; in other periods his ceramic works were glazed or painted, and he finished them with painted brushstrokes. In 1979 he was introduced to the use of wood kilns and much of his late work is wood-fired. Voulkos
has often been dubbed the father of the American Clay Revolution, otherwise known as the Craft-to-Art movement. Voulkos’ work is found in museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the
Museum of Modern Art, in New York and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
“I get down to the very basic forms that I really love, but they are still giving me information.”
Stephen MacGowan has been making and exhibiting art since 1984. He has had over 20 solo exhibitions
and over 50 group exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and other cities around the country. Disney commissioned a piece from him for their ESPN Zone in Chicago, depicting what Harey Carey saw from
the booth at Wrigley Field. After viewing his work, streets and buildings are seen in a whole new light. MacGowan paints on handcrafted wood reliefs of places found in American cities. He is one of the featured artists
for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI.
Beverly Pepper (1922 - ) is a pioneering sculptor known for her large outdoor sculptural works. She
studied design at the Pratt Institute and the Art Student’s League in New York. In 1951, she moved permanently
to Italy, near Rome, although she has worked part of each year in the United States, where most of her works
have been exhibited and sold. Pepper first carved in wood, a plentiful and inexpensive material. Instead of hand
chisels, she preferred power tools as appropriate to the modern Machine Age. It was virtually unprecedented
for women to use the physically arduous, industrial methods of cutting and welding heavy sheets of steel. Pepper
established her own well-equipped studio partly because she did not like delegating the actual work to fabricators; in this practice she was the antithesis of other sculptors working in steel who sent their compositions to be
fabricated by others.
Karla Wyss-Tye (1941 - ) Karla Wyss-Tye is a professional sculptor whose work often involves bird/human
images. She received her graduate and undergraduate degrees from Western Michigan University and is faculty
at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and the KIA. For over 20 years Karla and her husband William Tye
owned and operated the Alchemist -Tye Studio Inc. The Alchemist is a fine art foundry located in Kalamazoo, Ml,
which specializes in mold making and casting using the lost wax method. During this time, the Tye’s cast their
own work and that of many professional artists. In 2003 Karla was honored by the School of Art at Western
Michigan University for distinguished actions and accomplishments in the visual arts.
“Freedom to fly is the reason why birds have been chosen to represent our spiritual self, our soul, that part
of ourselves that knows no boundaries and is a part of something larger, which allows us to dream, to create and explore….”
Chuck Hindes ( 1942 -) has been a professor of ceramics at the University of Iowa since 1973. He teaches
extensively throughout the US and Canada. His work can be found in numerous private and public collections,
including the Smithsonian Museum. His pursuit of the wood-firing process has been relentless, and his work is
remarkable in how it demonstrates the meeting of earth and fire. Hindes starts with a basic form – in the case
of the work at The Grand Hand, it is the teabowl. The forms are loosely thrown, and then exposed to the flames
in the kiln in a way that causes them to bend, slump, and take on subtle variations in color. In the course of
his experimentations, Hindes has built, torn down and rebuilt countless kilns. The kilns at the University of Iowa
resemble a wild jigsaw puzzle, marking the course of recent experimentations.
“I feel wood firing has enhanced my work by providing a palette of colors and surface textures that
strengthen my forms visually, rather than cover them with a superficial skin.”
“The issue of gesture, movement, or animation has been important to my work for years. The plastic and
gestural qualities of clay should be emphasized, not dulled or subdued with an opaque or transparent skin.”
Tony Winchester ( 1969 -) Tony received his BFA in sculpture and ceramics from Bellevue College, a small
school in Nebraska. He has worked as an independent studio potter since 1993. Winchester uses two approaches. Some of his work is standardized in a production line. Other pieces are one of a kind: Mugs, serving bowls and wall plates in several sizes, sculptural teapots and vases. Winchester’s current work reflects his
philosophy of pottery’s three basic shapes: the cylinder, the sphere and the platter. By combining these three in
differing proportions, Tony will come up with a wide variety of functional and sculptural forms.
Artists
Paul Flickinger (1941 - ) teaches in the ceramics program in the Frostic School of Art, the Kalamazoo
Institute of Arts, Lincoln Center Aesthetic Education and Prague Academy of Fine Art in the Czech Republic. He
received his BFA from WMU and his MFA from the University of Michigan. He has received several grants and
awards including; the Fulbright Senior Specialist Award, the Grand Prize of the West Michigan Regional, the Arts
Council Of Greater Kalamazoo Emerging Artist Grant, the Dybvig Award from the University of Michigan and
Third Prize and Purchase Award from Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Area Exhibition. Paul has exhibited widely in the
state of Michigan, and is also the founder and executive director of Clean Water for the World, which has delivered and installed safe drinking water systems in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Ghana,
Kenya, and Ecuador.
Artists
Noi Volkov ( 1947 - ) was born in Agapovka, Russia. He graduated from Odessa Grecov Art College
in 1967 with a BA in Fine Art, and from Leningrad Mukchina College in 1973 with an MA in Fine Arts
and Ceramics. He has been residing in Maryland since 1990. In the 1970s Volkov decided to incorporate characters of classical art into his own contemporary pieces. Working with ceramics, he is able to
employ various textures and dimensions and incorporate different styles, structures and techniques. “I meticulously studied the works of old masters. My favorite artists include Vermeer, Rembrandt, and
Leonardo da Vinci. I place classic characters into modern art scenes. It makes for interesting situations. Mixing opposites is a basis for my work. I put together opposite textures as well. Smooth and
slick with jagged and rusty. It gives the work a certain feel.”
“My philosophy is that you cannot understand art without entering a different world. When I paint, I
enter a different world, where old becomes new and thus my work is created.”
Wade MacDonald has worked in ceramics for more than 10 years, and has recently begun experimenting with low-fire techniques, as well as various vessel, cannon and step forms. He studied at Western Michigan University, and has participated in anagama firings – in large, outdoor, wood-fired kilns
– throughout Michigan and Kentucky. He is a ceramics instructor at the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts. The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Curated by the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Off the Wall pulls over
60 three-dimensional works from the KIA’s extensive permanent
collection. The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is an 84-year old art museum and
school that serves a nine county region of small cities, towns, and
rural areas of Southwest Michigan. Every year, it attracts upwards of
125,000 regional residents and visitors.
Originally founded in 1924, the KIA moved into its own building—a
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill structure based on the style of Mies
van der Rohe—in 1961. Among other purposes, the building was
erected to serve two key functions: provide space to host nationally
recognized exhibitions and to start and house a permanent collection. The building, with a $14.5 million expansion in 1998, fulfills both
functions.
The KIA is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting art to promote both an appreciation of art, and to support
artist development. Currently, the KIA hosts six to eight traveling exhibitions a year, many of which usually only visit
museums in large cities. The museum is dedicated to providing a variety of programming that includes education
programs for all ages, a fine arts library, and a curriculum-based art school. Unique and varied programming is also
possible with the KIA’s permanent collection. The stature of any museum depends more on the quality of objects it owns than on the historical completeness of its
collections. Initially, the KIA established a goal to acquire American works of art that complemented the KIA Art school’s
five areas of concentrations: painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and works on paper. However, as the KIA
strengthened its museum component, the collection steadily increased through the addition of gifts, purchases, and a
major bequest in 1989. Though still emphasizing American art, the collection has added gifts of notable works from other
cultures, such as Oceanic artifacts, Columbian gold, and German Expressionist drawing.
The
Craft
The Craft
The following section contains information and
images that pertain to the craft of the works seen
in Off the Wall: Art in Three-Dimensions. You may
wish to consider the following questions as you
read.
What is sculpture? How do we define threedimensional art?
What forms can sculpture take? Are their
common forms and if so what are those
forms?
What are the common mediums and
processes used when creating sculpture?
What does an artist need to consider when
working in 3-D?
How do sculptors work?
What are some of the tools needed?
Look for the
“See It!” Icon
This Window on the Work is packed with
pictures of sculpture. As you continue
to read about the craft and origins of
the works featured in Off the Wall: Art in
Three-Dimensions, look for the “See It!”
icon in the corner of select photos. This
icon indicates that the work of art shown
in the photo is part of the Off the Wall
exhibition even if the photo did not appear
in “The Work” section of the Window. If
it has the icon, you can see it in person at
the KIA and you can select it as one of the
works of art you would like to work with in
your Aesthetic Education unit of study.
Sculpture
(Latin sculpere, “to carve”)
Three-dimensional art concerned with the
organization of masses and volumes. The
two principal types have traditionally been
freestanding sculpture in the round and relief
sculpture.
F
or thousands of years mankind has
been using sculpture as a primary
means of artistic expression. In
fact, long before the first record of history
was recorded, sculpture was being used by
primitive civilizations to document the world
in which they lived. Sculpture was often used
to represent any number of occurrences
in people’s lives from the very beginning.
Sculpture was used to document the passage of
time or environmental changes. Sculpture was
also used to represent societal concerns, such
as religion, politics, and morality.
Sculpture has long been one of the most
popular forms of fine arts. In fact, sculpture
was considered an art form long before patrons
of the art saw an inherent beauty in the other
types of art. Sculpture was believed to be one
of the best representations of human form
and as such was viewed as the ultimate artistic
creation.
The subject matter of sculpture has never
remained stagnant but has always found a
new and varied subject or theme which was
previously unused. Perhaps this art continues
to grow in popularity because the nature of
sculpture has continued to evolve over time.
Although the look of sculptures has changed
Pablo Picasso
Pigeon, 1959
whiteware
Gift of the Lester Rosenbaum family, 1981/2.94
dramatically throughout the centuries, it remains one
the most popular art forms.
Perhaps the popularity and apparent fascination
of sculpture will never be explained. However, it is
apparent that the artistic medium of sculpture is unique.
Above all, sculpture allows the artist to have an intimate
relationship with the work being created. Each time the
sculptor uses their hands to create a unique work of art,
whether or not the materials or subject matter continue
to evolve.
Sculpture Materials and Techniques
Sculpture can be made from almost any organic or
inorganic substance. The processes specific to making
sculpture, dated from antiquity up to the 20th century,
underwent only minor variations.
Artists create three-dimensional forms using a wide
variety of materials and techniques. Some of the most
commonly used materials are clay, wood, stone, plaster,
and metal. Techniques include carving, chiseling,
welding, and casting.
In the 20th century the field of sculpture was
enormously broadened and enriched by new
techniques, such as welding and assemblage, and by
new materials resulting from technology, such as neon
tubing.
STONE CARVING
A procedure dating from prehistoric times, carving is
a time-consuming and painstaking process in which
the artist subtracts, or cuts away, superfluous material
until the desired form is reached. The material is usually
hard and frequently weighty; generally, the design is
compact and is governed by the nature of the material.
For example, the narrow dimensions of the marble
block used by Michelangelo to carve his David (15011504, Accademia, Florence, Italy) strongly affected the
pose and restricted the figure’s outward movement into
space.
To carve from stone, an artist begins a sculpture with a
mass of material, which is systematically broken down
using special tools. In order to break off corners and
angles, a sculptor hammers the stone with a pitcher—a
heavy, pointed chisel with rough edges. The form is then
refined with more subtle tools, such as claw chisels and
flat chisels, which are used for sharper details.
WELDED METAL
Although metal is almost one of
the oldest forms of sculpture in
the world after stone, welding is a
20th century technique. To create
sculpture from metal, the artist
welds pieces together to create the
form, using a technique known as
“direct metal.”
George Rickey
Open Trapezoids, one Up One
Down, 1980-86
stainless steel
Gift of the artist, 1985/6.39
MODELING IN CLAY
Modeling consists of adding to, or building
up of, form. The materials used are soft and
yielding and can be easily shaped, enabling
rapid execution. Thus, a sculptor can capture
and record fleeting impressions much the
way a painter does in a quick sketch. Clay
or claylike substances, baked to achieve
increased durability, have been used for
modeling since ancient times.
Working in clay can be done using tools or
the artist’s hands. There are also wooden
tools specifically designed for clay sculpting.
It is one of the oldest methods of sculpting.
MOLDS AND CASTS
The only means of obtaining permanence
for a modeled work is to cast it in bronze
or some other durable substance. Artists
shape a model from clay or some other
malleable substance, form a negative mold
of this model, and pour a liquefied casting
substance such as bronze into the hollow
mold. Once the casting substance has hardened, the final work is ready.
Two methods of casting are used: the lost-wax process, and sand-casting. Both
methods have been used since antiquity, although the lost-wax process is more widely
employed. Casting is accomplished in two stages: First, an impression or negative mold
is formed from the original—a clay model, for instance—and second, a positive cast
or reproduction is made of the original work from the negative impression. The term
negative refers to the hollow form or mold into which the liquefied casting material is
poured. The term positive means the copy or reproduction resulting from filling the
negative mold with the substances selected for the specific cast, which are then allowed
to harden. Plaster is frequently used for the negative mold, and bronze for the positive
or final work.
CONSTRUCTION AND ASSEMBLAGE
Although traditional techniques are still employed, much 20th-century sculpture is created by
construction and assemblage. These methods have their origin in collage, a painting technique
devised by Pablo Picasso and the French artist Georges Braque in 1912, in which paper and
foreign materials are pasted to a picture surface.
Examples of modern constructivist sculpture range from the surrealistic boxes of Joseph
Cornell to the junk-car and machine-part works of John Chamberlain, both Americans.
The term assemblage, which is now sometimes used interchangeably with construction,
was coined by the French painter Jean Dubuffet to refer to his own work, which grew out of
collage.
Assemblage is a form of sculpture comprised of “found” objects arranged in such a way
that they create a piece. These objects can be anything organic or man-made. Scraps of
wood, stones, old shoes, baked bean cans and a discarded baby buggy - or any of the other
84,000,000 items not here mentioned by name - all qualify for inclusion in an assemblage.
Whatever catches the artist’s eye, and fits properly in the composition to make a unified whole,
is fair game.
There is a fine line between a bulky multi-layered collage and an assemblage done in a shallow
relief. The important thing to know about assemblage is that it is “supposed” to be threedimensional and different from collage, which is “supposed” to be two-dimensional (though
both are similarly eclectic in nature and composition.) The safest course is to take the artist’s
word for it.
KINETIC SCULPTURE
Is art in three dimensions that contains moving parts or depends
on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered
by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide
variety of overlapping techniques and styles. Sound sculpture can
also, in some cases, be considered kinetic.
The development of new tools and methods for sculpture can have a dramatic
effect on the way artists work. Over the past 25 years, there have been major
changes in sculptural processes and the tools associated with them. Today’s sculptor
has a huge array of tools from which to choose, ranging from basic hand tools
to super-computers and huge earth-moving machines. In many ways, advances in
technology have changed the sculptor’s tool kit as well as the sculptor’s aesthetic
options.
Tool
Changing
Changing
Technology
TECHNOLOGY
Many sculptors not only create at their
computer work stations, they also work with
software that enables machines to replicate
their creations in real space and in almost
any scale desired. Industrial processes such
as CAD/CAM (computer-assisted design and
computer-assisted machining), and stereolithography (through which complex threedimensional forms with hollow cavities can
be created by a computer-directed laser aimed
into a liquid plastic bath which catalyzes layer
by layer into a solid form), have given the
sculptor new powers that are just now being
explored. Computers and micro-electronics
have also brought indirect advances in the
process of making sculpture. Cordless and
variable-speed tools, affordable industrial
diamonds, and low-cost carbide saws, burrs,
and tooling are just a few of the items that the
sculptor today owes to advances in microelectronics. Welding technology has also
improved in the form of inexpensive and
durable welders as well as plasma cutting.
Plasma gives the sculptor the ability to cut
almost any metal quickly, easily, and safely
with only moderate skill and technical
knowledge.
POWER TOOLS
In general, the use of hand tools and their
associated skills has decreased in recent
years. It takes a certain amount of time and
knowledge to become proficient with hand
tools, and good quality hand tools are hard
to find. The sculptor today however, has an
almost endless choice of moderately priced,
well-made, and durable power tools. For
the sculptor, the cordless drill has become
an indispensable tool. In addition, epoxy,
silicone, and other adhesives have replaced
the need for mechanical methods of
construction. Hot melt glues have allowed
sculptors to build and attach all manner of
things together in moments.
The contemporary sculptor is much more
reliant on power tools than his or her
predecessor. 25 years ago the standard
power tools used in most sculpture studios
were very heavy and left one exhausted at
the end of the day. Now power tools are
light and more flexible allowing the sculptor
to do multiple parts of the sculpting process.
Many tools can be equipped for many
different purposes, so a large amount of
sculpting or carving can be accomplished is
a short period with little effort.
ACCESS
Ever-increasing arrays of new materials and
processes have played a role in changing the
field of sculpture in recent years. Sculptors
are wonderful at appropriating tools and
devices designed for specific commercial
purposes and adapting them to artistic
ends. For example, electronic sign boards
are now used by artists involved with
words or text. Today’s stone sculptors use
industrial diamonds for cutting, shaping,
carving, and polishing hard and soft stone.
Industrial diamond tools were almost
unknown to the sculptor two decades ago.
The fact that sculptors today can afford
diamond tools gives them the ability to
work and create with new materials.
Sculptors today are also casting with
different metals such as stainless steel and
cast iron. Glass artists have turned to
casting as well. Synthetic materials are also
being explored by the sculptor in order
to obtain great strength with little weight,
to create durable and weather resistant
surfaces, and to reproduce almost any
texture. Artists have the freedom to shape
and form these materials into complex
shapes relatively easily.
POTTERY
Pottery is made by forming the clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which
removes all water from the clay and induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and
hardening and setting their shape. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must
be prepared; Kneading helps to ensure even moisture content throughout the body. Air trapped within the clay body needs to be
removed. This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by wedging. Wedging
can also help produce even moisture content. Once a clay body has been kneaded and de-aired or wedged, it is shaped by a variety
of techniques. After shaping it is dried and then fired.
Paul Flickinger
Mayan Memory Vessel #4, 1999
pit-fired stoneware and watercolor
Physical Stages of Clay
Clay takes on varying physical characteristics during the making of
pottery.
•Greenware refers to unfired objects. Clay bodies at this stage are
in their most plastic form. They are soft and malleable. Hence they
can be easily deformed by handling.
•Leather-hard refers to a clay body that has been dried by exposing
it to the air for a period of time. At this stage the clay object has
approximately 15% moisture content. Clay bodies at this stage
are very firm and only slightly pliable. Trimming and handle
attachment often occurs at the leather-hard state.
•Bisque refers to the clay after the object is shaped to the desired
form and fired in the kiln for the first time, known as “bisque
fired.” This firing changes the clay in the object in several ways.
The clay hardens to a form that is no longer plastic. Mineral
components of the clay will undergo chemical changes that will
change the color of the clay.
•Glaze fired is the final stage of some pottery making. A glaze may
be applied to the bisque form and the object can be decorated in
several ways. After this the object is “glaze fired” at a very high
temperature. This causes the glaze material to harden and causes
the glaze and decoration to adhere to the object. The glaze firing
may also harden the body still more as chemical processes continue
to occur in the body.
•Quartz inversion When pottery bodies are heated during the firing
process, siica changes its crystalline structure several times causing
a rapid expansion in size. During the cooling cycle of the firing,
silica may revert to crystalline structures that occur at the lower
temperatures. This can cause the pot to crack as it contracts. Slow
firing cycles can minimize or eliminate this problem.
In the making of earthenware, the object may be only “once-fired”
to create a glazed pot.
•Bone-dry refers to clay bodies when they reach moisture content
at or near 0%. This will occur after glaze firing, when that is done,
or after bisque firing in the case of once-fired pottery.
Types of Clay
There are several different kinds of earthen material that are
referred to as clay. The various clays differ in the way in which
they respond to different degrees of heat when fired in the kiln.
Each of these different clays is composed of different types and
amounts of minerals that determine the resulting pottery. There
are wide regional variations in the properties of raw materials used
for the production of pottery, and this can lead to wares that are
unique in character to a locality. It is common for clays and other
materials to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific
purposes. The two essential components of clay are silica and
alumina which combine to form aluminium silicate, also known as
kaolinite. Here is a list of different types of clay used for pottery
that are available in different regions of the world.
•Kaolin This is sometimes referred to as China clay because it is
used to make quality porcelain china. This is a form of pure clay
which is 100% Kaolinite, free of any other mineral component.
•Ball clay An extremely plastic, fine-grained sedimentary clay, which
may contain some organic matter. It is usually added to porcelain
to increase plasticity.
•Fire clay A clay having a slightly higher percentage of fluxes than
Kaolin, but usually quite plastic. It is a highly heat resistant form of
clay which can be combined with other clays to increase the firing
temperature and may be used as an ingredient to make stoneware
type bodies.
•Stoneware clay Suitable for creating stoneware. This clay has many
of the characteristics between fire clay and ball clay, having finer
grain, like ball clay but more heat resistant like fire clays.
•Common red clay and Shale clay are generally suitable for
earthenware unless combined with other types of clay. They have
vegetable and ferric oxide impurities which make them useful for
bricks, but are generally unsatisfactory for pottery except under
special conditions of a particular deposit.[8]
•Bentonite An extremely plastic clay which can be added in small
quantities to short clay to make it more plastic.
•Slip clay is not a separate type of clay; rather it is liquid clay and
can be used as a glaze or binding agent.
Pottery can
be altered
by a range
of methods
which
include:
Hand building.
This is the earliest forming method. Wares can be
constructed by hand from coils of clay, flat slabs of clay,
solid balls of clay or some combination of these. Parts of
hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid
of slip clay. Hand-building is slower than wheel-throwing,
but it offers the potter a high degree of control over the
size and shape of wares. The speed and repetitiveness of
other techniques is more suitable for making precisely
matched sets of wares such as tablewares, although some
studio potters find hand-building more conducive to
create one-of-a-kind works of art.
The Potter’s Wheel
In a process called “throwing” (coming from the Old
English word thrawan which means to twist or turn) a
ball of clay is placed in the center of a turntable, called
the wheel-head, which the potter rotates with a stick, with
foot power or with a variable-speed electric motor.
During the process of throwing, the wheel rotates rapidly
while the solid ball of soft clay is pressed, squeezed
and pulled gently upwards and outwards into a hollow
shape. The first step of pressing the rough ball of clay
downward and inward into perfect rotational symmetry is
called centering the clay--a most important skill to master
before the next steps: opening (making a centered hollow
into the solid ball of clay), flooring (making the flat or
rounded bottom inside the pot), throwing or pulling
(drawing up and shaping the walls to an even thickness),
and trimming or turning (removing excess clay to refine
the shape or to create a foot).
In addition to the potter’s hands these techniques can
use tools, including paddles, anvils & ribs, and those
specifically for cutting or piercing such as knives, fluting
tools and wires. Thrown pieces can be further modified
by the attachment of handles, lids, feet and spouts.
Glazing
Glaze is a glassy coating on pottery, the primary
purposes of which are decoration and protection. One
important use of glaze is to render porous pottery vessels
impermeable to water and other liquids. Glaze is applied
by spraying, dipping, trailing or brushing on a thin slurry
composed of the unfired glaze and water. The color
of a glaze before it has been fired may be significantly
different than afterward.
A specialized glazing technique is ash glazing - ash from
the combustion of wood has been used as a component
of glazes. The source of the ash was generally the
combustion waste from the fuelling of kilns. Ash glazes
are historically known to come from the Far East. Many
studio potters value the unpredictability arising from the
variable nature of the process.
The Firing Process
Firing produces irreversible changes in the body. It is only after firing that the article or material is pottery. The object
of firing is to permanently harden the wares and the firing regime must be appropriate to the materials used to make
them. As a rough guide, earthenwares are normally fired at temperatures in the range of about 1000 to 1200° C;
stonewares at between about 1100 to 1300° C; and porcelains at between about 1200 to 1400° C. However, the way
that ceramics mature in the kiln is influenced not only by the peak temperature achieved but also by the duration of
the period of firing. Thus, the maximum temperature within a kiln is often held constant for a period of time to soak
the wares to produce the maturity required in the body of the wares.
The atmosphere within a kiln during firing can affect the appearance of the finished wares. Whether or not air is
allowed into the kiln affects the appearance of the wares being fired. For example, some glazes containing iron fire
brown with air flow, but green with no air flow. The atmosphere within a kiln can be adjusted to produce complex
effects in glaze.
Kilns may be heated by burning wood, coal, gas or by electricity. When used as fuels, coal and wood can introduce
smoke, soot and ash into the kiln which can affect the appearance of unprotected wares. Modern kilns powered by
gas or electricity are cleaner and more easily controlled than older wood- or coal-fired kilns and often allow shorter
firing times to be used.
WHAT IS A CERAMIC?
Ceramics are classified as inorganic and nonmetallic materials that are essential to our daily lifestyle. Ceramics are all around us. They include
things like tile, bricks, plates, glass, and toilets. Ceramics can be found in products like watches (quartz tuning forks-the time keeping devices in
watches), snow skies (piezoelectric-ceramics that stress when a voltage is applied to them), automobiles (sparkplugs and ceramic engine parts
found in racecars), and phone lines. They can also be found on space shuttles, appliances (enamel coatings), and airplanes (nose cones).
Depending on how they are formed, ceramics can be dense or lightweight. Typically, they will demonstrate excellent strength and hardness
properties; however, they are often brittle in nature. Ceramics can also be formed to serve as a conductor which allows electricity to pass through,
or as an insulator which prevents the flow of electricity. Some ceramics, like superconductors, also display magnetic properties.
The
Origins
The Origins
The following section contains information that
relates the origins of Off the Wall.
What is the history of three-dimensional
works of art?
Where and how did sculpture originate?
How did sculpture begin?
What forms did sculpture take and how did
this forms evolve?
What purpose does sculpture serve? What
purposes did it serve in the past?
Highlights in the History of 3-D Art
Three-dimensional art work or sculptures have been part of man’s
history since human beings first began making art. Humans have
discovered carvings from early-man that date back to 30,000 BC.
Unlike most sculptures today, these early three-dimensional works,
while decorative, often served a very practical and functional purpose.
The birth of art, including three-dimensional art, was very much the
birth of functional art.
There does not seem to be a civilization that did not have some
form of ceramic pottery. The pottery we have today is very colorful
and sophisticated but it all began in the various processes found
throughout history.
The ceramics we know today date back to around 24,000 BC when the
first clay animals and pottery were found. It is believed that these were
used in rituals during that time and were very sacred. As civilization
moved forward and people needed certain utensils, ceramics made a
very good tool.
About 10,000 years later there were many people who used tiles in
Mesopotamia and India and there were many vessels used for water
and food storage. This actually became an invention that was based on
need.
Glass was believed to be discovered in Egypt around 8000 BC,
when overheating of kilns produced a colored glaze on the pottery.
Experts estimate that it was not until 1500 BC that glass was produced
independently of ceramics and fashioned into separate items.
Many historians believe that the Egyptians found a way to heat kiln
like devices and were able to put a colored glaze on their pottery. This
was used for many decorative pieces until around 1,500 BC when
glass was discovered and there was now a way to make pieces out of
something different than ceramics.
Sculpture as an art form goes
back to prehistoric times.
Most stone-age statuettes
were made of ivory or soft
stone, however some clay
human and animal figures
have been found. Small
female statues known as
Venus figurines have been
found mainly in central
Europe. The Venus of
Willendorf (24,000-22,000
BC), from the area of
Willendorf, Austria, is a wellknown example.
Materials used for sculpture included basalt, diorite (a type of dark,
coarse-grained stone), sandstone, and alabaster. Copper, gold, silver,
shells, lapis lazuli and a variety of precious stones were used for high
quality sculpture and inlays. Clay was used for pottery and terra cotta
sculpture. Stone was generally rare and had to be imported from other
locations.
Many different cultures worked with ceramics. For instance, the
Chinese produced three types of pottery --painted, black and carved.
Much of what they did happened during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.220 A.D.) because by this time they had developed a long history of
firing kilns, so they were able to start producing many varied pieces.
By about 3000 BC there was an addition to the clay and water pieces
when the potter’s wheel was invented. It was used in Mesopotamia
and at that time it was just a simple wheel.
As the 5th and 6th centuries evolved, the Greeks began to make a
more sophisticated pottery with some of their pieces still being found
today and intact. They were able to develop the black figure pottery
and the red figure technique. Greek pottery was all functional. It was
created in a variety of shapes and each was developed specifically for
a certain task. For example, there were some that were made to store
wine, while others were created to heat or cool liquids. By the 6th
century, potters were signing their work, sometimes with the artist as
well.
As the Greeks continued to make their pottery they realized that
everything they made had one flaw. The flaw was that the clay would
eventually become porous and start to leak. This created challenges
for them until the 9th century when someone finally discovered a
glazing technique that took care of this problem. However, it wasn’t
seen as a practical application until many centuries later.
The Sphinxes are another form of ancient sculpture
from Egypt. The Sphinxes were statues of deities with
the body of a lion and the head of an animal or a man,
often made to look like the Pharaoh. The most famous
is the Great Sphinx of Giza, located near the pyramids.
It is about 60 feet (18 m) high and 240 feet (73 m) long,
and was built in 2500 BC.
TYPES OF POTTERY
Pottery comprises three distinctive types of wares.
The first type, earthenware, has been made following
virtually the same techniques since ancient times; only
in the modern era has mass production brought changes
in materials and methods. Earthenware is basically
composed of clay--often blended clays--and baked hard,
the degree of hardness depending on the intensity of the
heat. After the invention of glazing, earthenwares were
coated with glaze to render them waterproof; sometimes
glaze was applied decoratively. It was found that, when
fired at great heat, the clay body became nonporous. This
second type of pottery, called stoneware or ceramics,
came to be preferred for domestic use.
The third type of pottery is a Chinese invention that
appeared when China clay was incorporated into
stoneware, called porcelain. Two types of porcelain
evolved: “true” porcelain, consisting of a kaolin hardpaste body, extremely glassy and smooth, produced by
high temperature firing, and soft porcelain, invariably
translucent and lead glazed, produced from a composition
of ground glass and other ingredients including white
clay and fired at a low temperature. The latter was widely
produced by 18th-century European potters.
BOX: Regardless of time or place, basic pottery
techniques have varied little. To be successful, one
must use a correct clay composition by using balanced
materials; skill in shaping the wet clay on the wheel or
pressing it into molds; and, most important, firing at the
correct temperature. The last operation depends on
the experience, judgment, and technical skill of the
potter.
Edward Eberle
Under the Cloud
Porcelain
DECORATING TECHNIQUES
In the course of their long history potters have used many
decorating techniques. Among the earliest, impressing
and incising of wares are still favored. Different colored
slip, or semi-liquid clay, is used most effectively for
inlaying colored porcelains. Decoration of this sort
generally depends more on the skill of the artist than on
the complexity of the tools being used.
A sound knowledge of glazes--both utilitarian and
decorative--is vital to the potter. The origin of glazes
and glazing techniques is unknown, but the fine lustrous
glazes developed in China surely began with a simple
glaze that served to cover earthenware and render it
watertight.
An especially popular type of decoration involves the
sgraffito, or “scratched,” technique used by Italian potters
before the 15th century. This technique was probably
derived from China. Sgraffito, entails the incising of
designs on red or buff earthenware that had been coated
with ordinary transparent lead glaze, usually toned yellow
or, sometimes, brown, copper, or green. After firing,
the wares were dipped into white clay slip so that a dark
pattern could be cut on the surface. By cutting through
the white slip, the artist produced a design on the exposed
red or buff body.
Painting on pottery and porcelain became richly colorful
in many regions and periods. Decorative brush painting
directly on the baked clay reached its zenith in China
during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), whose artists were
highly skilled at painting in fired colors. Ming artists
also excelled in painting over the glaze using brilliant
enamel colors. The overglaze technique, which evolved
over two centuries, demanded correct preparation of
the enamels, skill in application, and the proper (low)
firing temperature. The overglaze enamel decorations
incorporated flowers, foliage, and figure subjects against
backgrounds of arabesques and scrollwork.
Forms of Roman Sculpture
Many are familiar with classical Roman sculpture that began around 212 B.C. Some different kinds
of classical Roman sculpture are as follows:
•Relief - shallow three dimensional carvings on flat
surfaces, used for architectural works such as columns,
arches and temples. An example of this type of
sculpture would be the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) from
13 - 9 B.C. The Ara Pacis was a monument to the Pax
Romana (The Roman Peace), 200 years of peace and
prosperity ushered in by Emperor Augustus.
•Free Standing Sculpture - Most of this work was
destroyed during Barbarian invasion or Christian rebuilding.
The marble was burned for lime and the bronze melted for other
purposes. An outstanding example of a piece that survived is
the Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius on a
horse), dating from 161 - 180 A.D. Legend has it that the emperor’s
imposing demeanor spared the piece from destruction. Another
tradition states the statue was spared because a happy misconception
of the Middle Ages, when the famous statue was thought to be a
portrait of Rome’s first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great,
and was thus piously left unharmed. [1] Common locations for
statues were in the temples, the public baths or the city forum (the
social and commercial center of the town).
•Portrait Sculpture - Subjects for these sculptures would include
various patricians and especially emperors - multiple copies of which were
circulated around the empire. Roman portrait sculpture embodied Roman
civic virtues and have set the standard for European (and American)
public portrait sculpture ever since. One well known example is the bust
of Emperor Constantine.
Education for the Arts Offices:
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Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Tel: 269.488.6267
www.kresa.org/efa
Kalamazoo Resa, Education for the Arts | Off the Wall: Art in Three-Dimensions | 2011-2012