3. The STRUCTURAL FRAME
Signs &
Symbols
Principals of DesignElements of Art
Expressive Form
Colour
Line
TextureShape
Tone
Installation
Drawing
Painting
Printmaking
Photography Performance
Video
Sculpture
Compositio
n
Focal Point Balance
Harmony
Movement
Contrast
Perspective
4. The CULTURAL FRAME
When, Where,
Why?
Social & Cultural
Influences
Art Movements
Social & Cultural
Environment of
the Artist
When was
the artwork
made?
Where was
the artwork
made?
Why was the artwork made? What
were the artist’s intentions?
What
movements
were around
at the time?
Does this artwork
challenge or
embrace a
movement?
What was
society like
at the time?
What was
happening
in the world
at the time?
Religion
Politics
Mass Media
Gender
Economics
Ethnic Background
Science
5. The POSTMODERN FRAME
Challenging
Appropriation
Role of the
Audience
How has the artist
challenged conventions?
Use of unconventional
materials?
How does the artwork
question conventions?
Parody? Irony?
Humour?
Borrowed
from other
artworks?
Does the
artist/artwork
make demands
of the
audience?
Has the
audience been
pushed to
rethink
something?
Borrowed
from other
artists?
6. FRAMES SUMMARY
This frame relates to the way an artist structures the art elements
(tone, colour, shape, perspective, pictorial depth, texture, line etc.,) to
create their artwork. It also relates to the signs, symbols and codes that are
used by the artist to create visual meaning.
When you discuss an artwork using this frame, you describe your personal
response to the work. You also consider how other people, such as the
artist and the audience feel about the work and what the artist was trying
to express when they created the work.
This frame considers an artist’s social and cultural environment and the way
it affects their artworks.
The artist’s social and cultural environment can include
religion, politics, ethnic
background, gender, science, technology, economics and the mass media.
When you use this frame to discuss an artwork, you describe how/if the
work questions the accepted long-held beliefs about art and artists. You also
consider if the artist has borrowed the work of other artists and whether
they have used irony or parody to challenge or mock the status quo.
