art HUM 2200
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The Vocabulary of Art I
Elizabeth Murray, The Sun and the Moon, 2005.
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Line: path of moving point Actual & Implied (contour/outline; direction & movement; hatching, cross-hatching, stippling)
Shape: (2-D) enclosed line Actual & Implied
Mass/Form: (3-D) depth, height & width
Figure (positive) & Ground (negative)
The Visual Elements
Light: digital & electronic Actual & Implied
Value: relative light & dark Chiaroscuro (light & dark)
Color: Hue Analogous (warm & cool) Primary Secondary Complementary Pointillism: optical mixing
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Line implies direction and movement
Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982.
Sarah Sze, Hidden Relief, 2001.
Line: Contour and Outline
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Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889.
What Do Artists Do?
Give tangible form to feeling:
Van Gogh attempted to express his personal feelings. He was intrigued by a thought that people journey to a star after death. Nature seems to be alive and have an urgent presence, while the village and those on earth sleep.
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Ernst Haas, Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Kyoto, 1981.
What Do Artists Do? Refresh our vision and see the world in new ways
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What Do Artists Do?
The Need for Art:
• To create places for human purpose
• To create extra-ordinary versions of ordinary objects
• To record and commemorate
• To give tangible form to the unknown
• To give tangible form to feelings and ideas
• To refresh our vision and see the world in a new way
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Types of Lines:
•Vertical lines seem assertive, or denote growth & strength.
•Horizontal lines appear calm.
•Diagonal lines are the most dramatic and imply action.
Eakins, The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1873-74.
Line: Direction and Movement
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Shading and Modeling: Create mass Hatching:
•Closely spaced parallel lines •Cross-hatching:
•Parallel lines intersect like a checkerboard •Stippling:
•Dots spaced close or far apart to suggest darker or lighter areas
Line
Implied Shape & Mass
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The Oldest Art Horse and Geometric Symbol, Cave painting, Lascaux, France,
c. 13,000 B.C.E.
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• The oldest art created around the Mediterranean Sea can best be understood in context with the history of the people who inhabited this area. • In many of these early societies, earthly order and cosmic order were viewed as interrelated and mutually dependent. • It is in the Mediterranean area, Africa, the Near East, and Europe that Western art begins. • The cave paintings at Lascaux were thought to be the oldest until the accidental discovery of the Chauvet cave in France in 1996. • This image dates from the Upper Paleolithic Period. One theory was that these images were a form of magic to ensure success in hunting. Another theory is that they represent spirit “contacts” in the Other World
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Pictographs are images painted on a rock face. Paints were generally made from pulverized minerals. Red, white, and black were the most common colors.
A pictogram or pictograph is a symbol representing an object or concept by illustration. Pictography is a form of writing whereby ideas are transmitted through drawing. It is the basis of cuneiform and hieroglyphs.
Pictograms remain in common use today, serving as signs or instructions. Because of their graphical nature and fairly realistic style, they are widely used to indicate public toilets, or places such as airports and train stations. However, even these symbols are highly culture-specific.
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Inside France’s 25,000-year-old Pech Merle Cave, hand stencils surround the famed "Spotted Horses" mural. The stenciled hands were found to be those of women.
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Lascaux is a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its cave paintings. They contain some of the earliest known art, dating back to somewhere between 13,000 and 15,000 BC, or as far back as 25,000 BC.
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The Impulse for Art Chauvet Cave, Lion panel, c. 25,000-17,000 B.C.E.
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• The impulse to create and communicate has existed since at least 30,000 BCE. Many times, we are only knowledgeable of a people’s existence because of the discovery of their art. • The discovery of this cave pushed back our history of art by several thousand years. • What compelled man to create visual records?
• In this case there are several theories: to decorate his dwelling space, to “pray” for magic and success of hunts, to educate hunters as to the movement and nature of prey. • Often hunters needed to be close to the kill and would cover themselves with a hide. • Their movement would need to mimic the animal in order to succeed. Artists have an innate need to express themselves.
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Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19.
Implied Line Direction & Eye Movement
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Earthwork: Art made from natural materials from and for a specific place
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates, 1979 - 2005.
Ohio, Serpent Mound, c. 1000 C.E.
Working With Time and Place
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Land Art – The Spiral Jetty
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• The Spiral Jetty, considered to be the central work of American sculptor Robert Smithson, is an earthwork sculpture constructed in 1970.
• Built of mud, salt crystals, basalt rocks, earth, and water on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake near Rozel Point in Utah, it forms a 1500-foot long, 15-foot wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the lake which is only visible when the level of the Great Salt Lake falls below an elevation of 4,197.8 feet.
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Figure (positive shape) Ground (negative shape)
Shape:
An enclosed line;
a two-dimensional
area with
identifiable
boundaries
i.e.: circles or
squares
Mass/Form:
A three-
dimensional area
with identifiable
boundaries
i.e.: spheres and
cubes
Shape and Mass
Emmi Whitehorse, Chanter,1991.
Bill Reid, The Raven and the First Men, completed 1983.
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Figure-ground reversal: •The concept of positive and negative space. •In representational work, it is the shape of the object. •In nonrepresentational work, it is the shape that appears dominant or active.
Aztec, circular shield, before 1521.
Shape and Mass
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The Oldest Art Venus of Willendorf, c. 23,000 B.C.E.