1) Introductory Terms

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abstraction

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a process or visual effect characterized by the simplification and/or rearrangement of the image

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addition

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a sculptural term that means building up, assembling, or putting on material

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aesthetic, aesthetics

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1. sensitive to art or beauty, "Aesthetically pleasing" implies intellectual or visual beauty (i.e. creative, eloquent, or expressive qualities of form, as opposed to the mere recording of facts in visual, descriptive, or objective ways). 2. the study or theory of beauty - traditionally a branch of philosophy but now a compound of the philosophy, psychology, and sociology of art - dealing with the definition, inspiration, intent, forms, and psychological effects of art and beauty.

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art

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"the formal expression of a conceived image or imagined conception in terms of a given mediam" (Sheldon Cheney)

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assemblage

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a technique that involves grouping found or created three-dimensional objects, which are often displayed IN SITU- that is, in a natural position or in the middle of the room rather than on a wall

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Bauhaus

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Originally a German school of architecture that flourished between World War I and World War II. The Bauhaus attracted many leading experimental artists of both two- and three-dimensional fields

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casting

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a sculpture technique in which liquid materials are shaped by being poured into a mold. This technique is also know as SUBSTITUTION

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craftsmanship

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aptitude, skill, or quality workmanship in the use of tools and materials

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content

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the expression, essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value of a work of art. Content refers to the sensory, subjetive, psychological, or emotional properties we feel in a work of art, as opposed to our perception of its descriptive aspects alone

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conceptual perception

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creative vision derived from the imagination; the opposite of OPTICAL PERCEPTION

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conceptual artist

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artists who focus on the idea, or "concept," of the work and are much more concerned with conveying a message or analyzing an idea than with the final product

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concept

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1. A comprehensive ida or generalization 2. an idea that brings diverse elements into basic relationships

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descriptive (art)

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a type of art that is based on adherence to actual appearance

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design

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the underlying plan on which artists base their total work. In a broader sense, design may be considered synonymous with the term FORM

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elements of art

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Line, shape, value, texture, and color - the basic ingredients the artists use separately or in combination to produce artistic imagery. Their use produces the visual language of art

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form

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1. the total appearance, organization, or inventive arrangement of all the visual elements according to the principles that will develop unity in the artwork; composition. 2. In sculpture, can also refer to the three-dimensional shape of the work.

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glyptic

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1. The quality of an art material like stone, wood, or metal that can be carved or engraved. 2. an art form that retains the color, tensile, and tactile qualities of the material from which it was created. 3. the quality of hardness, solidity, or resistance found in carved or engraved materials.

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graphic (art)

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two-dimensional art processes such as drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and so on that generally exist on a flat surface and can create the illusion of depth. commercial applications include posters, newspapers, books, and magazines

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installations

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Interior or exterior settings of media created by artists to heighten the viewers' awareness of the environmental space

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manipulation

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the sculptural technique of shaping pliable materials by hand or with the use of tools - also known as MODELING

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medium, media (pl)

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The material(s) and tool(s) used by the artist to create the visual elements perceived by the viewer

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modeling

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a sculptural term for shaping a pliable mterial

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Naturalism

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the approach to art that is essentially a description of things visually experienced. Pure naturalism would contain no personal interpretation introduced by the artist

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negative area

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the unoccupied or empty space left after the positive images hav been created by the artist. Consideration of the negative areas is jus as important to the organization of form as the positive areas

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nonobjective, nonrepresentational art

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a type of art that is completely imaginative, in wich the elements, their organization, an their treatment are entirely personalized and the image is not derived from anything visually perceived by the artist

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optical perception

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a purely visual experience with no exaggeration or creative interpretation of that which is seen; the opposite of CONCEPTUAL PERCEPTION

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organic unity

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a condition in which the components of art (subject, form, and content) are completely interdependent. Though not a guarantee of "greatness" the resulting wholeness is vital to a successful work

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picture frame

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the outermost limits or boundary of the picture plane

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positive area

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1. the subject - weather representational or nonrepresentational - which is produced by the art elements (shape, line, etc.) or their combination. See NEGATIVE AREA

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principles of organization

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concepts that guide the arrangement and integration of the elements in achieving a sense of visual order and overall visual unity. They are harmony, variety, balance, proportion, dominance, movement, and economy

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process artists

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artists who focus on the execution, or "process" of the work and are much more concerned with the technique they employ in creating the work than with the final product

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realism, Realism (art movement)

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a style of art that emphasizes universal characteristics rather than specific information (e.g. a generalization of all "motherhood" rather than an extremely detailed portrat of a specific woman). As a movement, it relates to painters like Honore Daumier in nineteenth-century France and Winslow Homer in the United States in the 1850s

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relief sculpture

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an artwork, graphic in concept but sculptural in application, utilizing relatively shallow depth to establish images. The space development may range from very limited projection, known as low relief, to more exaggerated space development, known as high relief. Relief sculpture is meant to be viewed frontally, not in the round.

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representational art

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a type of art in which the subject is presented through the visual art elements so that the observer is reminded of actual objets (see naturalism and realism)

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sculpture

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the art of shaping three-dimensional materials to express an idea

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space

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the interval, or measurable distance, between points or images; can be actual or illusionary

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style

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the specific artistic character and dominant trends of form noted during periods of history and art movements. Style may also refer to artists' expressive use of media to give their work individual character

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subject

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1. in a descriptive approach to art, refers to the persons or thing represented. 2. in more abstract applications, refers to visual images that may have little to do with anything experienced in the natural environment

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volume

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the measurable amount of defined occupied space in a three-dimensional object

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unity

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the result of brining the elements of art into the appropriate ration between harmony and variety to give a sense of oneness

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technique

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the manner and skill with which artists employ their tools and materials to achieve an expressive evvect

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subtraction

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a sculptural term meaning the carving or cutting away of material

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substitution

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in sculpture, replacing one material or medium with another (see CASTING)