Overview and Objectives

This module focuses on the different mediums employed in arts specifically visual arts
and music. Included in this module are the techniques of sculpture and principles of
construction. Below is the outline of the module.
1. Classification of Art according to Medium
2. Mediums of Painting and Sculpture
3. Techniques in Sculpture
4. Architecture: Materials and Principles of Construction
5. Mediums in Music

It is expected that after studying the content, students are able to:

1. give the advantages and disadvantages of the mediums of the visual arts;
2. identify, describe and gain familiarity with the different mediums of music and visual
arts;
3. paint using any of the materials discussed; and
4. create a 3-dimensional artwork using soap as a medium (sculpture) or using any material
for installation art.

Take this short test to test your prior knowledge of the topics.

I. True or False. Write true if the statement is true, and false if it is

false.
1. The bigger the musical instrument, the higher is the pitch.
2. Music appreciation is inborn.
3. The cello is the tenor voice of the string family.
4. Corrections after painting can be made in an oil painting as well as
in watercolor painting.
5. Acrylic paints use water as vehicle.
6. In painting, the pigment can be in a wet form or in a dry form like crayons.
7. The counterpart of collage in sculpture is assemblage.
8. Fabrication is a popular technique of sculpture in the 20th Century.
9. Venus of Willendorf is an example of a technique in sculpture called modeling.
10. Fresco means fresh, thus, fresco painting cannot be done in a dry plaster.
 Lesson 1:
Classification of Art According to Medium

The term medium refers to the materials used by artists to convey

their thoughts and ideas. In painting, for example, acrylic is commonly
used by artists, while in sculpture, 20th century artists have explored the
possibility of using found objects as materials.

According to medium, arts are classified into visual or space arts, auditory or time arts and
combined or performing arts. Visual arts are those that can be seen and those which occupy space,
auditory arts are those that can be heard and which exist in time, while the combined arts are those
that can be both seen and heard.

"Medium" as an Artistic Material

Building off the type of art, medium can also be used to describe a particular artistic
material. This is how artists describe the specific materials that they work with to create a piece of
art. Painting is a perfect example of how this is distinguished. It is very common to see descriptions
of the type of paint used as well as the support it was painted on. For example, you'll see notations
following the titles of paintings that read along the lines of:

"Gouache on paper"
"Tempera on board"
"Oil on canvas"
"Ink on bamboo"

The possible combinations of paint and support are endless, so you will see many variations
of this. Artists choose the materials they enjoy working with or those that work best for a particular
piece of work.

This use of the word medium applies to all types of artwork as well. Sculptors, for instance,
may use metal, wood, clay, bronze, or marble for their medium. Printmakers may use words like
woodcut, linocut, etching, engraving, and lithography to describe their medium. Artists who use
multiple media in a single piece of art typically call it "mixed media," which is common for
techniques like a collage.

The plural for medium in this sense is media.

A Medium Can Be Anything

While those examples are common forms of media, many artists choose to work with or
incorporate less traditional materials into their work. There are no limits and the more you learn
about the art world, the more oddities you will discover.

Any other physical material—from used chewing gum to dog hair—is fair game as an
artistic medium. At times, artists can become extremely creative about this whole media business
and you may run across things in art that defy belief. You will find artists who even incorporate
the human body or things derived from it as their medium. It's quite interesting and can also be
rather shocking.

Though you might be tempted to point, sputter, and laugh when you come across these, it
is often best to gauge the mood of the company you're in. Think about where you and who is
around you. Even if you think the art is unusual, you can often avoid many faux pas by keeping
those to yourself in some situations. Keep in mind that art is subjective and you will not enjoy
everything.

"Medium" as a Pigment Additive

The word medium is also used when referring to the substance which binds a pigment to
create a paint. In this case, the plural of medium is mediums. The actual medium used is dependent
on the type of paint. For instance, linseed oil is a common medium for oil paints and egg yolks are
a common medium for tempera paints. At the same time, artists can use a medium to manipulate
the paint. A gel medium, for example, will thicken a paint so the artist can apply it in textural
techniques like impasto. Other mediums are available that will thin paints and make them more
workable.

Fine Arts

The term "fine art" refers to an art form practised mainly for its aesthetic value and its
beauty ("art for art's sake") rather than its functional value. Fine art is rooted in drawing and design-
based works such as painting, printmaking, and sculpture. It is often contrasted with "applied art"
and "crafts" which are both traditionally seen as utilitarian activities. Other non-design-based
activities regarded as fine arts, include photography and architecture, although the latter is best
understood as an applied art.
Lesson 2: Painting, Sculpture and Installations, and Architecture

Painting

Painting is the application of pigments to a support surface that establishes an image, design
or decoration. In art the term “painting” describes both the act and the result. Most painting is
created with pigment in liquid form and applied with a brush. Exceptions to this are found in
Navajo sand painting and Tibetan mandala painting, where powdered pigments are used. Painting
as a medium has survived for thousands of years and is, along with drawing and sculpture, one of
the oldest creative media. It’s used in some form by cultures around the world.

Three of the most recognizable images in Western art history are paintings: Leonardo da
Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. These
three art works are examples of how painting can go beyond a simple mimetic function, that is, to
only imitate what is seen. The power in great painting is that it transcends perceptions to reflect
emotional, psychological, even spiritual levels of the human condition.

Painting media are extremely versatile because they can be applied to many different
surfaces (called supports) including paper, wood, canvas, plaster, clay, lacquer and concrete.
Because paint is usually applied in a liquid or semi-liquid state it
has the ability to soak into porous support material, which can,
over time, weaken and damage it. To prevent this a support is
usually first covered with a ground, a mixture of binder and chalk
that, when dry, creates a non-porous layer between the support
and the painted surface. A typical ground is gesso.

There are six major painting media, each with specific

individual characteristics. They all use basic ingredients such as pigment, binder and solvent (also
called “vehicle”). Pigments are granular solids incorporated into the paint to contribute color. The
binder is the actual film-forming component of paint. The binder holds the pigment until it’s ready
to be dispersed onto the surface. The solvent controls the flow and application of the paint. It’s
mixed into the paint, usually with a brush, to dilute it to the proper viscosity, or thickness, before
it’s applied to the surface. Once the solvent has evaporated from the surface the remaining paint is
fixed there. Solvents range from water to oil-based products like linseed oil and mineral spirits.

Painting Mediums

Medium Description Characteristic/s

• A Greek word meaning

Encaustic “to heat or burn in” Encaustic is as versatile as any painting medium,
(enkaustikos) and has a range of textural and colour advantages

• Encaustic painting
employs hot beeswax as a
binding medium to hold
coloured pigments and to
enable their application to
a surface - usually wood
panels or walls. It was
widely used in Egyptian,
Greek, Roman and
Byzantine art.
that make it an excellent alternative to oil
painting in many different situations. Capable of
being polished to a high gloss, it can be
modelled, sculpted, and combined in mixed-
media works with collage and other items of junk
art. Most important, it cools almost immediately,
with minimum drying time, yet it can always be
reworked. And as beeswax is impermeable, it
will not deteriorate, or darken or turn yellow, and
encaustic paintings need not be protected under
glass. Encaustics are also environmentally safer,
as they emit no toxic fumes, and do not require
the use of solvents.

Their sole disadvantage is their need to be kept

in a molten state, although modern tools have
made this a relatively trivial task.

• An ancient medium that

Tempera was originally used for Tempera artworks last very long, with some of
murals, the word tempera the earliest works dating back to the 1st century!
Or Egg
originally came from the
Tempera verb temper, or, 'to bring
to a desired consistency'.
Tempera is typically applied onto a prepared
surface. Wood panel paintings, for instance,
• Created by hand-grinding
dry powdered pigments were prepared with layers of gesso (a mixture of
into binding agents such size and chalk) to form a smooth surface. The
as eggs, glue, honey, tempera was then applied (over a prepared
water, milk and a variety drawing or sketch) and built up slowly in a series
of plant gums to hold the of thin, transparent layers.
colour together, tempera
was the primary painting
medium for centuries.
Unlike oil paint, tempera cannot be applied too
thickly, and thus lacks the deep colouration of
oils. But tempera paintings are very long lasting
and colours do not deteriorate over time, unlike
oil paints which tend to darken or lose colour
with age. It dries rapidly, and when dry it
produces a smooth matte finish.
 The main disadvantage - apart from the time-
consuming need to apply it in thin layers - is that
tempera paintings cannot usually attain the deep
colour saturation that oil paintings are able to
manage.

• Italian for "fresh"

Fresco Created by painting directly onto plaster,
• refers to the method of frescoes offer a permanence not found in other
painting in which forms of art. Unsurprisingly, muralists favor this
pigments are mixed durability, as illustrated by well-preserved
solely with water (no masterpieces including the Roman wall
binding agent used) and paintings of Pompeii and Renaissance artist
then applied directly onto Michelangelo's world-famous Sistine Chapel
freshly laid plaster
ceiling.
ground, usually on a
plastered wall or ceiling.
The plaster absorbs the
liquid paint and as it dries, Painting on fresh plaster means that the artist can
retaining the pigments in spread the paint much easier. Also, fresco is
the wall.
permanent because the paint joins with the
plaster so that the colours will not rub off.
• Types:
• Buon fresco or Frescoes last for hundreds of years. If they are
“wet,” the most kept clean and dry, the colours will stay bright
common fresco for a very long time. Fresco does not use
method, involves the dangerous chemicals.
use of pigments
mixed with water
(without a binding
agent) on a thin layer The problems with painting frescos come from
of wet, fresh, lime the plaster. It must be mixed up and put on the
mortar or plaster wall freshly every day and left to partly dry
(intonaco). before it can be used. As the plaster begins to dry
• Fresco secco, or "set", the artist can start the picture. The work
meaning “dry” is
must be very quick and careful. If there is a
done on dry plaster
and therefore mistake, the plaster must be scraped off. While
requires a binding the plaster is setting, it becomes hot and gives off
medium, (eg. egg gases. This makes working on a fresco
tempera, glue or oil) unpleasant. Because frescos are on walls, or
to attach the pigment ceilings, they can not be moved from place to
to the wall, as in the place, or rearranged, like other paintings.
famous mural
painting known as
 The Last Supper by
Leonardo Da Vinci.
• Mezzo-fresco
involves painting
onto almost but not
quite dry intonaco so
that the pigment only
penetrates slightly
into the plaster.
• Oil paint is a mixture of
Oil paint three things: pigment,
binder and thinner.
Pigment is the colour
element, while the
binder (the oil) is the
liquid vehicle or carrier
which holds the ground-
up pigment to be applied
to the canvas or
whatever support is to be
painted.
• Acrylic paint was
Acrylic developed in the 1950’s
paint and became an
alternative to oils.
Pigment is suspended in
an acrylic polymer
Oil paint is the most versatile of all the painting
media.
Some of the qualities of oil paint include a wide
range of pigment choices, its ability to be thinned
down and applied in almost transparent glazes
as well as used straight from the tube (without
the use of a vehicle), built up in thick layers
called impasto (you can see this in many works
by Vincent van Gogh).
One drawback to the use of impasto is that over
time the body of the paint can split, leaving
networks of cracks along the thickest parts of the
painting.
Because oil paint dries slower than other media,
it can be blended on the support surface with
meticulous detail. This extended working time
also allows for adjustments and changes to be
made without having to scrape off sections of
dried paint.
The acrylic polymer has characteristics like
rubber or plastic. Acrylic paints offer the body,
color, and durability of oils without the expense,
mess and toxicity issues of using heavy solvents
to mix them. One major difference is the
 emulsion binder and relatively fast drying time of acrylics. They are
uses water as the vehicle. water soluble, but once dry become impervious
to water or other solvents. Moreover, acrylic
paints adhere to many different surfaces and are
extremely durable. Acrylic will not crack or
yellow over time.

• Pigment dissolved in
Watercolor water and bound by a Watercolor is the most sensitive of the painting
colloid agent so that it media. It reacts to the lightest touch of the artist
adheres to the working and can become an over worked mess in a
surface when applied moment.
with the brush. The same
name is used for a work Watercolor paintings hold a sense of immediacy.
of art in that medium. The medium is extremely portable and excellent
for small format paintings. Transparent
• There are two kinds of watercolor techniques include the use of wash;
watercolor media: an area of color applied with a brush and diluted
transparent and opaque.
with water to let it flow across the paper. Wet-in-
Transparent watercolor
operates in a reverse wet painting allows colors to flow and drift into
relationship to the other each other, creating soft transitions between
painting media. It is them. Dry brush painting uses little water and
traditionally applied to a lets the brush run across the top ridges of the
paper support, and relies paper, resulting in a broken line of color and lots
on the whiteness of the of visual texture.
paper to reflect light
back through the applied
color (see below),
whereas opaque paints
(including opaque
watercolors) reflect light
off the skin of the paint
itself. Watercolor
consists of pigment and a
binder of gum arabic, a
water-soluble compound
made from the sap of the
acacia tree. It dissolves
easily in water.
Sculpture and Installation Art

Sculpture is any artwork made by the manipulation of materials resulting in a

three-dimensional object. The sculpted figure of the Venus of Berekhat Ram,
discovered in the Middle East in 1981, dates to 230,000 years BCE. It is the oldest
example of artwork known. The crudely carved stone figure will fit in the palm of
your hand. Its name derives from the similarity in form with so-called female
fertility figures found throughout Europe, some of which date to 25,000 years
ago. For example, the form of the Venus of Willendorf (right) shows remarkable
skill in its carving, including arms draped over exaggerated breasts, an extended
abdomen and elaborate patterning on the head, indicating either a braided hairstyle
or type of woven cap. Just as remarkable, the figure has no facial detail to indicate
identity. The meaning behind these figures is difficult to put into context because of the lack of
any written record about them or other supporting materials.

Sculpture can be freestanding, or self-supported,

where the viewer can walk completely around the work to
see it from all sides, or created in relief,where the primary
form’s surface is raised above the surrounding material,
such as the image on a coin. Bas-relief refers to a shallow
extension of the image from its surroundings, high relief is
where the most prominent elements of the composition are
undercut and rendered at more than half in the round
against the background.

Installation art is a relatively new genre of

contemporary art - practised by an increasing number of
postmodernist artists - which involves the configuration or
"installation" of objects in a space, such as a room or
warehouse. The resulting arrangement of material
and space comprises the "artwork".

An art installation is a three-dimensional visual

artwork, often created for a specific place (in situ) and
designed to change the perception of space. The term
“installation”, which appeared in the 1970’s, generally
applies to works created for interior spaces (ie. gallery,
museum); outdoor works are more often referred to as public
art, land art, or, to put it roughly, humans intervening on an
environment and putting their “stamp” on it. That said, an
outdoor piece can most certainly be considered an
“installation” of sorts, but, typically, installation art is most
often found within an indoor space, as some artists would
prefer to contain their creative statement to the context of a room, which is simple enough for a
viewer to comprehend.

An installation can be either mobile (or re-mountable); permanent (or fixed); ephemeral
(or temporary).

Sculpture Mediums

Any material that can be shaped in three dimensions can be used sculpturally. Certain
materials, by virtue of their structural and aesthetic properties and their availability, have proved
especially suitable. The most important of these are stone, wood, metal, clay, ivory, and plaster.
There are also a number of materials of secondary importance and many that have only recently
come into use.
Medium Description Characteristic/s

Primary

Stone • Stone carving is the oldest Throughout history, stone has been the principal
surviving form of artistic material of monumental sculpture.
expression.
• Igneous rocks - formed • practical reasons for this:
by the cooling of • many types of stone are highly resistant
molten masses of to the weather and therefore suitable for
mineral as they external use;
approach the Earth’s • stone is available in all parts of the world
surface, include and can be obtained in large blocks;
granite, diorite, basalt, • many stones have a fairly homogeneous
and obsidian. These texture and a uniform hardness that make
are some of the hardest them suitable for carving;
stones used for • stone has been the chief material used for
sculpture. the monumental architecture with which
• Sedimentary rocks - so much sculpture has been associated.
include sandstones
and limestones; Because stone is extremely heavy and lacks
formed from tensile strength, it is easily fractured if carved
accumulated deposits
too thinly and not properly supported. A
of mineral and organic
substances. Alabaster massive treatment without vulnerable
(gypsum), also a projections, as in Egyptian and pre-Columbian
sedimentary rock, is a American Indian sculpture, is therefore usually
chemical deposit. preferred. Some stones, however, can be treated
Many varieties of more freely and openly; marble in particular has
sandstone and been treated by some European sculptors with
limestone, which vary
almost the same freedom as bronze, but such
greatly in quality and
suitability for carving, displays of virtuosity are achieved by
are used for sculpture.
 • Metamorphic rocks overcoming rather than submitting to the
result from changes properties of the material itself.
brought about in the
structure of Hard stones
sedimentary and
igneous rocks by • They are often harder to work than steel. First
extreme pressure or among the hardstones used for sculpture is
heat. The most well- jade, which was venerated by the ancient
known metamorphic Chinese, who worked it, together with other
rocks used in hardstones, with extreme skill. It was also
sculpture are the used sculpturally by Maya and Mexican
marbles, which are artists. Other important hardstones are rock
recrystallized crystal, rose quartz, amethyst, agate, and
limestones. jasper.
• Hard Stones - or • The working of these stones, along with the
semiprecious stones, working of more precious gemstones, is
constitute a special usually considered as part of the glyptic (gem
group, which includes carving or engraving), or lapidary, arts, but
some of the most many artifacts produced from them can be
beautiful and considered small-scale sculpture.
decorative of all
substances.
Wood • The principal woods for • Both hardwoods and softwoods are used for
sculpture are oak, sculpture. Some are close-grained, and they
mahogany, limewood, cut like cheese; others are open-grained and
walnut, elm, pine, cedar, stringy. The fibrous structure of wood gives
boxwood, pear, and ebony; it considerable tensile strength, so that it may
but many others are also be carved thinly and with greater freedom
used. than stone. For large or complex open
compositions, a number of pieces of wood
• In the 20th century, wood may be jointed. Wood is used mainly for
was used by many indoor sculpture, for it is not as tough or
sculptors as a medium for durable as stone; changes of humidity and
construction as well as for temperature may cause it to split, and it is
carving. Laminated subject to attack by insects and fungus. The
timbers, chipboards, and grain of wood is one of its most attractive
timber in block and plank features, giving variety of pattern and texture
form can be glued, jointed, to its surfaces. Its colours, too, are subtle and
screwed, or bolted varied. In general, wood has a warmth that
together, and given a stone does not have, but it lacks the massive
variety of finishes. dignity and weight of stone.

Metal • The metal most used for
sculpture is bronze, which
is basically an alloy of
copper and tin; but gold,
silver, aluminum, copper,
brass, lead, and iron have
also been widely used.
• Most metals are extremely strong, hard, and
durable, with a tensile strength that permits a
much greater freedom of design than is
possible in either stone or wood. A life-size
bronze figure that is firmly attached to a base
needs no support other than its own feet and
may even be poised on one foot.

Clay • Used for modeling animal
and human figures long
before men discovered
how to fire pots, it has
been one of the sculptor’s
chief materials ever since.
Ivory • From the tusks of
elephants but walrus,
hippopotamus, narwhal
(an Arctic aquatic animal),
and, in Paleolithic times,
mammoth tusks also were
used for sculpture.
Plaster of • useful for the production
paris of molds, casts, and
(sulfate of preliminary models.
lime) • quick-setting gypsum
plaster consisting of a fine
white powder (calcium
sulfate hemihydrate),
which hardens when
Considerable attenuation of form is also
possible without risk of fracture.
• Metals can be worked in a variety of ways in
order to produce sculpture. They can be
cast—that is, melted and poured into molds;
squeezed under pressure into dies, as in coin
making; or worked directly—for example, by
hammering, bending, cutting, welding, and
repoussé (hammered or pressed in relief).
• Clay has four properties that account for its
widespread use:
• when moist, it is one of the most plastic of
all substances, easily modeled and capable
of registering the most detailed
impressions;
• when partially dried out to a leather-hard
state or completely dried, it can be carved
and scraped;
• when mixed with enough water, it
becomes a creamy liquid known as slip,
which may be poured into molds and
allowed to dry;
• when fired to temperatures of between 700
and 1,400 °C (1,300 and 2,600 °F), it
undergoes irreversible structural changes
that make it permanently hard and
extremely durable.
• Ivory is dense, hard, and difficult to work.
Its colour is creamy white, which usually
yellows with age; and it will take a high
polish.
• A tusk may be sawed into panels for relief
carving or into blocks for carving in the
round; or the shape of the tusk itself may be
used.
• The physical properties of the material
invite the most delicate, detailed carving,
and displays of virtuosity are common.
• When mixed with water, plaster will in a
short time recrystallize, or set—that is,
become hard and inert—and its volume will
increase slightly. When set, it is relatively
fragile and lacking in character and is
therefore of limited use for finished work.
Plaster can be poured as a liquid, modeled
directly when of a suitable consistency, or
 moistened and allowed to
dry.
Secondary
Concrete • a mixture of an aggregate
(usually sand and small
pieces of stone) bound
together by cement. A
variety of stones, such as
crushed marble, granite
chips, and gravel, can be
used, each giving a
different effect of colour
and texture.
Fibreglass. • When synthetic resins,
especially polyesters, are
reinforced with
laminations of glass fibre,
the result is a lightweight
shell that is extremely
strong, hard, and durable,
usually known as
fiberglass.
Modeling • Brown sculpting wax is the
wax basic all-purpose type
favored by many
sculptors. It is a process and for making sketches. It is not
“microcrystaline” wax,
which means it will bend a
lot more readily than
paraffin, the white wax
used for making candles.
Papier- • pulped paper bonded with
mâché glue
easily carved after it has set. Other materials
can be added to it to retard its setting, to
increase its hardness or resistance to heat, to
change its colour, or to reinforce it.
• Commercial cement is gray, white, or black;
but it can be coloured by additives.
• The cement most widely used by sculptors is
ciment fondu, which is extremely hard and
quick setting. A recent invention—at least, in
appropriate forms for sculpture—concrete is
rapidly replacing stone for certain types of
work. Because it is cheap, hard, tough, and
durable, it is particularly suitable for large
outdoor projects, especially decorative wall
surfaces. With proper reinforcement it
permits great freedom of design. And by
using techniques similar to those of the
building industry, sculptors are able to create
works in concrete on a gigantic scale.
• Because the material is visually unattractive
in itself, it is usually coloured by means of
fillers and pigments. It was first used in
sculpture in conjunction with powdered
metal fillers in order to produce cheap “cold-
cast” substitutes for bronze and aluminum,
but with the recent tendency to use bright
colours in sculpture it is now often coloured
either by pigmenting the material itself or by
painting.
• The main uses of wax in sculpture have been
as a preliminary modeling material for metal
casting by the lost-wax, or cire-perdue,
durable enough for use as a material in its
own right, although it has been used for small
works, such as wax fruit, that can be kept
under a glass dome.
• Mainly used for decorative work, especially
masks, it can have considerable strength; the
Japanese, for example, made armour from it.
Sculpture made of sheet paper is a limited
art form used only for ephemeral and
usually trivial work.
Sculpture Methods

Carving uses the subtractive process to cut away

areas from a larger mass, and is the oldest method used
for three-dimensional work. Traditionally stone and
wood were the most common materials because they
were readily available and extremely durable.
Contemporary materials include foam, plastics and
glass. Using chisels and other sharp tools, artists carve
away material until the ultimate form of the work is
achieved.

Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which
contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. One traditional method
of bronze casting frequently used today is the lost wax process. A mold is made from an original
wax sculpture that is melted away to create a negative cavity into which molten metal is poured.
Traditionally, casting materials are usually metals, however, they can also be various cold-setting
materials that cure after mixing two or more components together; examples are epoxy, concrete,
plaster, and clay. Casting is most often used for making
complex shapes that would be otherwise difficult or
uneconomical to make by other methods. It’s a labor-
intensive process that sometimes allows for the creation of
multiples from an original object (similar to the medium of
printmaking), each of which is extremely durable and
almost exactly like its predecessor. A mold is usually
destroyed after the desired number of castings has been
made.
.
Modeling is a method that can be both additive and subtractive. The
artist uses modeling to build up form with clay, plaster or other soft
material that can be pushed, pulled, pinched or poured into place. The
material then hardens into the finished work. Larger sculptures created
with this method make use of an armature, an underlying structure of
wire that sets the physical shape of the work. Although modeling is
primarily an additive process, artists do remove material in the process.
Modeling a form is often a preliminary step in the casting method.

Construction, or Assemblage, uses found, manufactured or altered

objects to build form. It is also called fabrication. Artists weld, glue,
bolt and wire individual pieces together.
 Some modern and contemporary
sculptures incorporate movement,
light and sound. Kinetic
sculptures use ambient air currents
or motors allowing them to move,
changing in form as the viewer
stands in place. The artist
Alexander Calder is famous for his
mobiles (right), whimsicallike and, similar to Nevelson’s and
Butterfield’s works, constructed of , abstract works that are intricately
balanced to move at the slightest wisp of air, while the sculptures of
Jean Tinguely are contraption-like and, similar to Nevelson’s and Butterfield’s works, constructed
of scraps often found in garbage dumps.

Architecture
A building’s materiality is what our bodies make direct contact with; the cold metal handle,
the warm wooden wall, and the hard glass window would all create an entirely different
atmosphere if they were, say, a hard glass handle, a cold metal wall and a warm wooden window
Materiality is of just as much importance as form, function and location—or rather, inseparable
from all three.

Materials
Material Description/ Characteristic

Concrete Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, making it
a good starting material to get to know. However it also has significant
environmental impacts, including a carbon footprint of up to 5% of
worldwide emissions.

Wood One of the oldest, most traditional building materials around the world is
of course timber. The material is beginning to take on new forms thanks to
engineered wood products, and with high-rise buildings and even
translucent properties, this diverse material is being taken to new heights.

Steel It is used because it binds well to concrete, has a similar thermal expansion
coefficient and is strong and relatively cost-effective. Reinforced concrete
is also used to provide deep foundations and basements and is currently the
world's primary building material.

Plastics The advantages of using plastic in construction are that it is lightweight yet
strong which makes it easier to transport and shift around sites. ... Plastic
 can also be flexible, and is easily extruded, bent, molded, 3D printed, and
so on. Plastic can also be easily removed and some plastics can be recycled.

Stone A material used over generations in certain geographical locations around

the world, stone has a wide diversity of textures, colours and strengths.
Despite its heavy, solid materiality, one can still work with it to achieve
diverse forms.

Glass The most used material to achieve transparency and light is without a doubt
glass, one of the most commonly used façade elements in contemporary
architecture.

Brick Despite its rigid, rectangular shape made to fit in your hand, brick
architecture has been shown to create beautiful structures with the right
craftsmanship. Innovative thinkers are also finding new ways to incorporate
active sustainability into the small building elements.

Bamboo Bamboo usage is generally dictated by the geographical location of the

architectural project. In locations where bamboo makes sense, it is an
incredibly flexible, strong, sustainable material that can be useful in many
ways.

Carbon Fiber Reflecting everything about our new material endeavors is carbon fiber:
"five times stronger than steel, twice as stiff, weighing significantly less."
The composition of carbon fibre makes it flexible to work with, allowing it
to take shapes from surfaces to rods, depending on your requirements.

Construction Principles
Below are the ommonly used principles of construction.

Principles Description/ Characteristic

Post-and-lintel a system in which two upright members, the posts, hold up a third member,
System the lintel, laid horizontally across their top surfaces. All structural openings
have evolved from this system, which is seen in pure form only in
colonnades and in framed structures, because the posts of doors, windows,
ceilings, and roofs normally form part of the wall
(https://www.britannica.com/)

Skeleton high buildings construction method in which the chief horizontal and
Construction vertical members are of rolled steel and the walls are for the most part
supported at the floor levels by the steel frame itself (https://www.merriam-
webster.com/)
 Truss essentially a triangulated system of straight interconnected structural
elements. The most common use of trusses is in buildings, where support to
roofs, the floors and internal loading such as services and suspended
ceilings, are readily provided (https://www.steelconstruction.info/Trusses).

Cantilever beam supported at one end and carrying a load at the other end or distributed
along the unsupported portion. The upper half of the thickness of such a
beam is subjected to tensile stress, tending to elongate the fibres, the lower
half to compressive stress, tending to crush them. Cantilevers are employed
extensively in building construction and in machines. In building, any beam
built into a wall and with the free end projecting forms a cantilever
(https://www.britannica.com/)

Arch In architecture and civil engineering, a curved member that is used to span
an opening and to support loads from above. The arch formed the basis for
the evolution of the vault.

Dome a curved formation or structure. It is shaped like half of a sphere

(https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dome/)

Lesson 3: Mediums of Music

Music, art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or
emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most
Western music, harmony (Epperson, n. d.). It has two types of mediums – the vocal mediums and
the instrumental mediums.

Note: You will be provided with a copy of the presentation for Mediums in Music.

What are the new concepts that you learned today? Write at least ten
new concepts that you learned. If there are concepts that need
clarification, write them, too.
 I. Retake the ten-item test you have taken before studying the
lessons in this module.

II. Identification. Identify the following concepts.

1. This musical instrument is commonly used to accompany
the singing of folk songs.
2. The smallest woodwind instrument in the orchestra.
3. This musical instrument is used for battle calls.
4. In the orchestra, this section provides a variety of rhythms,
textures and tone colors.
5. These instruments produce their unique sound by the player buzzing his/her lips while
blowing air through a cup or funnel shaped mouthpiece.
6. A term for sculpture that appears to be raised above the background plane.
7. It is the counterpart of collage in sculpture.
8. He sculpted the famous statue of David. He is a Renaissance artist.
9. An art term defined as "a technique involving the use of two or more artistic media".
10. It means lost-wax method.

III. Multiple Choice. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives given. Write only the
letter of your choice.

1. Sculpture which is suspended, balanced and that moves is:

a. Free standing b. kinetic c. bas relief d. high relief
2. Sculpture which can be seen on all sides and stands without additional support is known as:
a. Free standing b. kinetic c. bas relief d. high relief
3. Which of the following is an additive process?
a. Modeling b. Papier-mâché c. assemblage d. All of them
4. In this technique, an object is made by pouring molten metal or other material into a
mold.
a. fabrication b. assemblage c. casting d. modeling
5. In sculpture, this type which is slightly raised from the material is also known as:
a. carving b. kinetic c. bas relief d. high relief

6. In tempera painting, wooden panels were prepared with ______ which prevented the
wood from absorbing the paint.
a. Egg yolk b. paint c. linseed oil d. gesso
7. Unlike tempera, oil paint can be__________.
a. More fluid and flexible c. mixed directly on the canvas
b. can be mixed with linseed oil d. All of them.
 8. This medium in painting has to be done in one sitting. There can be very little or no
corrections made at all in this medium.
a. oil b. watercolor c. acrylic d. fresco
9. What medium was used by Michelangelo when he painted the ceiling of Sistine Chapel?
a. boun fresco b. acrylic c. fresco secco d. encaustic
10. Like watercolor, this medium is fast-drying and water-soluble but become water-resistant
when dry.
a. oil b. encaustic c. tempera d. acrylic

Recommended Videos to Watch

Musical Instruments of the Orchestra, Learn Sounds, Interesting &

Educational Videos for Kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS5iR-wWhGg

Materials needed:

Pencil
Bond paper (short)
Crayons or any medium like poster paint, oil, etc.

What to do?

Create a painting using any of the mediums discussed in this

module. You are free to choose your subject.

Sculpture/Installation Art

Materials for Sculpture:

Soft soap like Perla
Carving knife

What to do?
Using a knife, create a sculpture employing carving as technique.

If you opt for installation, create an installation art and take a picture of what you have created.
Check the video “ These enchanting installations are made entirely out of thread” so you will
have ideas on how to make installation arts.
References:

Esaak, S. (2020). What Is the Definition of 'Medium' in Art? Retrieved from

https://www.thoughtco.com/medium-definition-in-art-182447

Epperson, G. (n. d.). Music. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/music/Theories-of-

musical-meaning-since-the-19th-century

https://www.britannica.com/

https://davidcharlesfox.com/what-is-installation-art-description-history-and-prominent-artists/

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/installation-art.htm

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-sac-artappreciation/chapter/reading-painting/

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dome

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresco#:~:text=The%20problems%20with%20painting%20fre
scos,be%20very%20quick%20and%20careful.

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/fine-art.htm

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/fine-art-painting.htm#mediums

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

Zilliacus, A. (2016). 16 Materials Every Architect Needs to Know (And Where to Learn About
Them). Retrieved from https://www.archdaily.com/801545/16-materials-every-architect-needs-
to-know-and-where-to-learn-about-them