Name: Tehanie Christy G.

Molarto Section: 25N SCULPTURE

Assignment No. 5 Date: July 18, 2013

Sculptures are also among the different art forms that falls under visual art. Sculptures can be defined as a three-dimensional art form that uses materials like clay, stone or wood for its execution. Sculptures are essentially made in two ways. Either they are formed bit by bit into a particular shape and structure as it is in the case of a clay sculpture or it is chiseled and carved from a block of wood or a piece of stone. There are many clay sculpture ideas that an amateur can take inspiration from while attempting to make a sculpture. Sculpture is a process of transferring your creative idea into something tangible, creating an object from something that you cannot yet hold in your hands. There are no short cuts; no modern devices will transform those ideas into your subject. If left to themselves, even the most modern sculpting tools will not produce a good sculpture. A sincere desire to create your own sculpt, combined with immense gratification and pleasure of the process, practice and determination result in a creation that belongs to absolutely no one else - your idea brought to life becomes the sculptors reward. Realizing the desire and creating the ideas are the first part. The Mediums of Sculpture Sculptural artists use many mediums, from some of the most simple and ancient forms such as clay, stone, and wood to industrial forms such as metal and plastic and to electronic forms such as three-dimensional light displays, 3D effects, and other electronic displays. Sculptural art is defined, in fact, by its three-dimensional quality. It is different from painting and drawing in that they are art forms that exist in twodimensional form, whereas sculpture always has three dimensions. Sometimes the third dimension may be very slight, as in "bas-relief" rock carvings of objects that are raised a few centimeters or more above the flat surface of a rock (because the rock around the object has been carved away). At other times, the third dimension may be so fully developed as in early Greek and Roman sculptures of people and animals that the sculptured object may look like it is alive with motion or even quivering with feeling. So important in much of sculpture is this idea of movement or feeling that one can argue that sculpture often is like frozen dance: people, animals, and objects caught for an instant in their flight of motion through an instant in time. Sometimes sculpture is, in this way, like an instant snapshot by a camera, freezing the "dance" of its subject as it moves. Often the instant of "frozen dance" time in a sculpture is a moment of great beauty, tension, ugliness, or other extreme feeling. In fact, the history of sculpture often is a history of feeling. The very earliest sculptures we have of people and animals from early civilizations often had less feeling to them and were more like a snapshot of an average or typical person, animal, or object at that time. If, for example, the sculpture was of a king or queen, it was of a typical king in his typical activities, even if his face was personalized to show a specific individual. However, as "sculptors" those who make sculptures became increasingly more talented in ancient times, they developed the ability to show movement and, more important, emotion in their subjects. The result was something like the difference between a poor class 27

photos for a yearbook vs. a dynamic sports page picture of someone arching in the air while hitting a ball. Good sculpture tells a story the story of the event, the feelings of the subject, and the feelings of those who may be viewing the subject. Great sculpture often goes one step further. It shows conflict: a problem, tension with need and a hope for a resolution. This storytelling capacity that often exists or is subtly implied in well done sculpture is much like that of the art of storytelling in literature. Some type of medium affects this story, this tension, differently. Here, for example, are some of the emotional affects of different sculptural mediums: Wood. Wood often is known for being a warmer, softer medium, especially when compared to stone. Stone. A harder, often cooler or even cold medium, emotions in stone partly depend on its color. Clay. This earth-based material is a more flowing thus emotionally smoother and varied medium with medium to high warmth. Metal. Metals have very different properties: copper, for example, is much warmer than steel; aluminum is very shiny / reflective. Glass. Brittle by nature, it conveys more delicacy and brittleness emotionally. Clear glass conveys an airy tone; other tones depend on color. Light. Alive with energy, sparkling and attractive in tone, its colors and movements (circling, pulsing, darting, etc.) convey a wide range of emotional tones and tensions. Water. Fountains are forms of water sculpture. Water suggests slippery, transparent, bubbly emotions, but its color can change this dramatically. Flower garden / Design. Flowers in sculptural form often convey bright, joyful emotions because of their strong colors. Wood, brick, clay, stone, metal, and glass as building material. When used in architecture, these sculptural mediums usually convey solidity and protection (in part because this is what people expect of substantial buildings), with other qualities depending especially on color and shape.

The medium or type of material often is the most easily noticed part of a sculpture. This may be why medium also is the first method of categorizing and analyzing it. Sculptures can be designed for outdoor usage in a garden or public display or exclusively for indoors. Artists can make sculptures from anything at hand, including sand, food and recyclables.

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Clay. Clay is a versatile medium in sculpting. It can be the medium to build a finished product, or to make molds for other media. Clay sculptures include small objects that need to be fired in a kiln.

Steel. Steel welded together can create large or small sculptures. Sculptors create public art form steel as well as artistic candle holders and table top displays.

Stone. People have carved stone for centuries to create sculptures. Italian artist Michelangelo chiseled a piece of marble into the 17-foot statue of David.

Wax. Wax museums feature realistic models of famous people created from wax. Beeswax can be carved with the same tools as clay or wood.

Glass. Artists can blow heated glass to create sculptures. Broken shards of glass can also be used to build sculptures, with or without the addition of other sculpture media.

Ice. Ice carvings can be elaborate pieces of functional art as seen in the ice hotels of Sweden or Quebec. Smaller blocks of ice also become decorative centerpiece sculptures for weddings or other events.

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Wood. Artists carve wood into sculptures. Some artists carve exclusively with a chain saw to create elaborate wooden sculptures while others use more precise tools to carve and shape the wood. Wood also often serves as a base for other sculpted material.

Recycled Material. Artists can create assemblage art from discarded materials. Artists have used automobile parts, broken clocks, household items and tools to build sculptures of all sizes.

Food. Chocolate sculptures are temporary pieces of art that can serve as centerpieces for special events. Food sculptor Jim Victor has used butter, pepperoni, peanut brittle and cheese to create statues.

Sculpture Ways and Methods (Including the Masters and their Masterpiece) There are many different materials used in the creation of sculpture, both natural and man-made. Sculpture can also transform physical spaces into art. Tending, (Blue) by James Turrell is an example of a sculpture that transforms physical space, combining architecture and the use of light. The use of light, a non-tangible material, is important in this sculpture by Turrell. (View of exterior door)

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There are many ways to create sculpture, including assembling, carving, modeling, and casting. Assembling Creating a composition made of various materials such as found objects, paper, wood, and/or textiles. In Caress of a Bird, Joan Mir (pronounced Jwan Me-ro) transforms common objects found around his studio in the Catalan countryside. The artist assembled an ironing board, an outhouse seat, a donkeys straw hat, a tortoise shell, and two miniature soccer balls to create this sculpture. Mir was known to arrange found objects on his studio floor when planning a sculpture. In this instance, the artist had casts made in bronze of the found objects and painted the bronze casts with bright colors, adding to the whimsical nature of the sculpture.

Caress of a Bird being assembled. Photograph Casa Planas, retouched by Joan Mir

Joan Mir, Caress of a Bird, 1967, painted bronze

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Carving A subtractive sculpture technique in which material is removed, revealing the final form. Carving tools might include a chisel, adze, drove, gouge, and graver.

Adze

Chisels

Poet and critic Ezra Pound commissioned the artist Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (Pronounced On-ree Go-deeay Bresh-ka) to create this portrait. Gaudier-Brzeska worked on this sculpture for two months, creating one of his largest stone carvings.

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska carving the Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound, 1914

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound, 1914, marble

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Modeling An additive sculpture process in which material is built up into the final form, often over an armature. The material must be pliable, such as clay, wax, or plaster, and the sculptor uses his/her hands to build up the form. Alberto Giacometti (pronounced Ja-co-met-ee) was a prolific painter and sculptor, even sometimes painting directly on bronze sculptures. He spent many years creating portrait busts of his brother, Diego, his long-time studio assistant. The sculpture Bust of Diego was first created by modeling the form in clay. One can see how the sculptor modeled the clay with his hands in the indentions left on the surface. The composition was then cast in bronze, and the artist painted the surface of this version.

Alberto Giacometti modeling a figure in his studio

Alberto Giacometti, Bust of Diego, 1954

Casting The act of making a work of art from a hollow mold by pouring molten metal, liquid plaster, or other material into the mold to let it harden.

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This is one of six known plaster casts that Brancusi made at an early date from the first version of The Kiss, his first true masterpiece. The first version of The Kiss was carved in stone. Casting multiple versions allowed him to make more works available for public exhibition.

Constantin Brancusi, The Kiss, 1907-08, cast before 1914 There are different casting methods. Bronze sculpture is often created through the lost-wax method of casting. Bronze is composed of various alloys of copper and tin, sometimes with other metals. A work cast in bronze is sometimes referred to as a bronze.

Using the sculpture Night by Auguste Maillol (pronounced My-yol) as a silhouette, the different steps of lost-wax casting are illustrated. Please note that this is a simplified illustration of a very complex process.

Aristide Maillol, Night, ca.1902-07, (cast 1960)

Artists first sculpt a model in clay or plaster. The surface of the model is coated with a protective coating, such as lacquer.

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The model is then placed within a plaster retainer mold into which liquid elastic gelatin or latex is poured. (Figure 1) The flexible gelatin mold gives the most accurate representation of the details of the model because of the fluidity and flexibility of the material.

When the flexible mold solidifies, it is gently pulled from the surface of the model in two equal sections revealing a negative impression. (Figure 2)

Melted wax is then applied to the inside of the flexible mold. The thickness of the wax determines the thickness of the finished bronze. When the wax solidifies, a core of investment material is poured. (Figure 3)

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After the core solidifies, the two halves of the flexible mold with the outer plaster retainer molds are removed to reveal the wax positive. The artist can make adjustments at this point, hand finishing the wax positive to the desired level of completion before the bronze casting. (Figure 4) This is the point at which the artist signs the work and an edition number and a foundry seal are added.

Wax runners, sprues and risers (air vents) are attached to the wax positive. These will act as channels for the bronze to fill the spaces left behind from the melted wax and for the air to escape. Core pins are inserted through the wax to the investment core. These pins maintain the distance between the core and the outer mold once the wax is gone. (Figure 5)

A fine grade ceramic investment material is applied to the wax positive and runners to make an outer investment mold. A coarser investment material is added on the outside, filling all the spaces in between as a protective cradle. The core pins will bind the wax positive and the core to the investment mold. (Figure 6)

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When the investment mold has been sufficiently fired and cooled, molten bronze is poured into the mold flowing downward through the runners and then up through the sprues filling the air spaces left by the melted wax. (Figure 7)

When the bronze is cooled, the outer investment mold is chipped away and the rough bronze is ready for finishing. (Figure 8)

The runners, sprues and vents are removed, chiseled and filed so that no trace of them remains. This process is called chasing. The core is removed from inside of the bronze leaving the finished shell. (Figure 9)

When the chasing is complete, a thin layer of corrosive oxides are applied to the surface of the bronze giving it a patina which is slightly brown, green, or blue in color.

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