PREVNEXTSUBMITTable of ContentsResourcesGlossaryTranscriptsClear and return to MenuSearch ResultsFilterSlide TextNotesSearch in:Check to includeSearch...TermsDefinitionFINISHfinishdefinitionresourcessearchpauseplayreplaysubmitnextpreviousvolumeSkip Navigation. Hit enter to return to the slide.SUBMIT ALLsubmit allQuestion ListMore infoSend an emailCloseBioExit<html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Sculptural objects can be made from nearly any material, from materials that you may be familiar with such as marble, stone or bronze; to glass, wood, fiber, clay, blood, ice, found objects, light, or the earth itself. It can take on as many forms as there are artists.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Alternative media and processes works which focus more on actions and ideas than on physical objects may include work that is interactive or installations that completely immerse the viewer within a specific environment.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Some carved works are meant to be viewed only from the front or the side; they are called relief sculptures. A relief projects from a flat, two-dimensional background surface. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>In low relief, also called “bas-relief,” the figures project only slightly from the background. In high relief, the figures are more deeply carved.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>In contrast to relief sculpture, sculpture in-the-round can be viewed from any angle. Your experience of a freestanding sculpture will vary as you move around it. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>The processes for creating sculptures are either additive or subtractive. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'> </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Subtractive methods involve the removal of material, such as through carving until the form of the sculpture emerges. Typical materials artists use in this process are either stone or wood, each offering their own challenges. Wood is generally softer and easier to carve, but the most ancient surviving sculptures were made using stone. Regardless of the material chosen, subtractive processes are uniquely challenging because once material is removed, it cannot be replaced. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Today, most artists use pneumatic tools to help speed the difficult process of carving stone, but traditional tools and techniques are still employed. Watch the following video to see the process at work.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>One skilled artist of the subtractive method was the great Renaissance master Michelangelo. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>One of the most famous sculptures in the world is his figure “David” from 1504. This triumph of a work is carved from one huge 16 foot high block of marble. This piece of quarried marble was hanging around for four decades but artists (including Leonardo da Vinci) would refuse to work with it because it was particularly difficult and riddled with imperfections and cracks. Michelangelo’s ability to liberate the image of David from this imperfect stone is a testament to his skill in the subtractive method of carving. A smaller bronze replica is located at the Ringling museum in Sarasota.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>David, from the Biblical story of David and Goliath, was again the subject of another marble sculpture in the later Italian Baroque period, by an artist named Gianlorenzo Bernini. In this one, David is in much more of an action pose, giving a sense of the moment before the big event when David strikes down the giant Goliath. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>The dynamism, muscular tension and theatricality of this version exemplify the Baroque style as compared to Michelangelo’s more poised classical ideal form.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>How would you compare the two different approaches to the same subject utilizing the same material of marble?</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Modeling, casting, and assemblage are common methods used in additive processes. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Sculptures made from clay, wax, or other pliable materials are molded and shaped to create a form. If the material is clay, it is often fired (or baked) in a kiln at a very high temperature, ensuring its durability. Sculptures created using clay are referred to as ceramic sculpture. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Casting is considered an additive process, though more indirect than modeling. It involves the creation of a mold from an original form. Into that old, a liquid material is poured, eventually hardening to retain the form of the mold.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>In the additive process of assemblage, artists gather together and assemble objects to create their work. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>For hundreds of years, West African sculptors of the kingdoms of Benin and Ife, used both subtractive and additive methods of sculpting. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Watch the following video to learn more about the contributions of these master sculptors.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>The video may take a few seconds to load. Please wait. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>The arts originally encompassed all visual objects, including those made from media that have come to be called craft, such as fiber art, ceramics, glass, metal work and jewelry.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Crafts associated with “women’s work”, such as quilting, lacework or other types of folk art have not been as esteemed as other forms of art in the Western tradition. Female artists emerging in the 1960’s and 1970’s as part of the feminist movement, began to resuscitate those traditions and bring these skilled forms into the realm of fine art.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Faith Ringgold is known for her narrative works, such as Tar Beach, incorporating quilting and painted fabric. It is interesting to note that Ringgold often worked collaboratively, meaning she worked on them with others, such as her mother, who was a dressmaker and fashion designer. Collaboration, something you will find many contemporary artists engaged in, is nothing new and has been part of the artistic process for centuries, despite the traditional western notion of the individual artist working alone and independently. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Our landscape on earth is in flux, constantly being sculpted and shifted by natural forces in the environment. The process may take thousands and thousands of years, or perhaps overnight.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Humans throughout history have also shaped the actual earth into monumental art objects. These are called Earthworks, or Land Art.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Andy Goldsworthy is a contemporary artist who creates sculptural objects utilizing ice, branches, leaves, whatever he finds in the environment in which they are made. What is interesting is that his works change over time, and his sculptures have a life-span. They don’t exist forever, but are something far more ephemeral. So the element of time is very important. The photograph of them is all we have left to enjoy these fleeting works of art. He says, “Time and change are connected to place.”</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>In the work of Andy Goldsworthy, you can see that process itself is important, it’s not about the thing, the artwork, staying around forever necessarily. But this isn’t just a completely new concept. Think back to Jackson Pollack and his action paintings of the 1940s and 1950s. For Pollack, the act of making the drip paintings was an important precedent for other artists. Painting them was like a performance. An emphasis on the process- rather than the finished piece means that artworks made from alternative media are intended to be directly experienced. Often the only way we can know about them is through documentation and photography.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Around the 20th century, artists started turning to new materials and ways of making art outside of traditional forms of sculptures and oil painting. To help understand why, we can look at the Dada artists who emerged at the same time World War I was raging.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>With his ready-mades, Duchamp introduced Conceptual Art – art in which the idea is more important than how the work is made, or what it looks like. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Marcel Duchamp wanted to emphasize the conceptual aspects of a work art.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'> </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Learn More about Duchamp and his famous readymade Fountain from 1917.</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/v/marcel-duchamp-fountain-1917</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Artists engaged with more conceptual pieces prioritize underlying meanings and thought over the tangible products of traditional art-making processes. This, and other alternative processes, again may meet with resistance and some may want to say it isn’t art at all. However, think about the wit, playfulness and rebelliousness that can be present in such works. Also keep in mind the historical context and revolutionary beginnings that they came out of.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Installation art is sculptural, but unlike more traditional forms, it immerses the viewer by creating an environment. Installations may be multi-sensory - engaging not just visual sense, but sound, touch, and even smells can be incorporated. Site-specific installation art is created for a particular space or location. Instead of just being placed on pedestals or the wall, the work of installation artists is integrated into the setting, becoming part of the art itself. Viewer interactivity becomes a central component. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Installation artists may paint the floor and walls of a space, alter the size and shape of a room, or completely fill a space with objects both found and made. Watch the working process of Sarah Sze to learn more about how improvisation and experimentation can be part of the creative process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk1597J5g50 </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Like Sarah Sze, Fred Wilson incorporates found objects in his installations. In his work, he often takes art, craft and cultural objects from museum collections – objects that may initially be viewed as neutral or simply decorative - and juxtaposes them in unexpected ways to reveal concealed meanings. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Audience interaction has become increasingly important to contemporary artists. The distinction between art and life and what you can and can’t do with art is being challenged in really creative ways. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>In Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Liverpool, the artist’s work is based on a set of poetic instructions to be performed by the viewer.</textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Artists of the mid-20th century sought out innovative forms of expression. Just as with some of the artistic processes previously discussed, performance art crosses boundaries and challenges artistic conventions. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>By definition, performance art includes performance - the human body (often the artist’s own body) is activated. The body becomes the art and a way to communicate with the audience through movement, expressions, and sounds. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Performance art engages the senses and activates the space itself, becoming part of the viewer’s lived experience. </textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>This is exemplified in the work of Marina Abromović. In 2010, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, put together a retrospective of her work. For the exhibition, she created a new piece titled “The Artist is Present” where she sat quietly at a table in the museum all day from open to close. The audience, one at a time, was invited to come and sit across from her. They were allowed to sit and stare as long as they wished. This piece highlights the experimental, conceptual and unpredictable nature of performance art. Abramovic pushed her bodies limits – its physical and mental capabilities – as she enacted the strenuous piece every day for the entire three months of the show. </textformat></html><html><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>Why do you think Michelangelo chose to sculpt his David from marble, Marcel Duchamp appropriated a urinal, or Kusama chose to use the audience as a participant with stickers in a blank room?</textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'></textformat><textformat leading='0' tabstops='[0, 48, 96, 144]' blockindent='0' indent='0'>An artist chooses the type of medium that will best suit the message they want to communicate. Artists utilizing three-dimensional media are no longer bound by specific materials of stone, marble and clay for instance. They can use appropriated and found objects, they can sculpt objects using additive and subtractive processes, and they can assemble things together and construct environments and installations to address their concept and message.</textformat></html>