Sculpture can take many forms including freestanding works seen from all sides, reliefs that project from a background, and installation art that transforms spaces. Common sculpture materials and techniques include modeling sculptures out of materials like clay, casting them in bronze using molds, and carving stone through subtractive methods. Assemblage allows for constructed sculptures combining diverse parts while kinetic sculpture incorporates movement. Mixed media and site-specific installations are modern approaches transforming viewer experience.

1. Sculpture
Chapter 10

2. Sculpture
• Sculpture- 3 dimensional artwork created to
exist in space as we do
• Sculpture in the round-a freestanding
sculpture that can be seen from any side
• Relief- a sculpture that is not free standing,
but projects from a background
– Low relief/bas relief-the projection from the
background is slight, like a coin

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Apollo. c. 415 B.C.E.
Diameter 1-1/8".

4. Angkor Wat

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Army on the March. Relief from Angkor Wat, The Great Temple of the
Khmers, Cambodia. 1100–1150.

6. Angkor Wat
• Angkor wat- literally means city temple
• Originally built as a temple to the Hindu
god Vishnu
• Became a Buddhist temple
• Army on the March is a delicate low
relief carved in stone
• Notice the rhythm of the spears and it’s
contrast with the curving foliage

7. Corporate Wars: Wall of Influence
• By: Robert Longo
• High relief sculpture-more than half the
natural circumference of the modeled
form projects from the surface
• Figures are often undercut

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Robert Longo. Corporate Wars: Wall of Influence. Middle portion. 1982.
7' × 9'.

9. Modeling
• Additive process-a pliable material,
such as wax, clay, plaster is built up and
pushed into a final form
• Armature-a stiff inner support that keeps
the material from sagging

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Ballplayer with Three-Part Yoke and Bird Headdress. Maya Classic Period.
A.D. 600–800.
34.2 × 17.8 cm.

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Robert Arneson. California Artist. 1982.
68-1/4" × 27-1/2" × 20-1/4" (173.4 × 69.9 × 51.4 cm).

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Ken Price. Vink. 2009.
9" × 20" × 11".

13. Casting
• Allows the artist to make the piece on a
pliable material like clay or wax and then
convert it into a permanent material like
bronze
– Mold-a mold is made of the original work and then
the new material is poured into the mold
– Traditional a cast is made using metal, but now
there are new resins and plastics used to create
very realistic surfaces

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Charles Ray. Self-Portrait. 1990.
75" × 26" × 20".

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Kaz Oshiro. Tailgate (OTA). 2006.
53" × 17-7/8" × 1-3/4". Bottom edge 12" from wall.

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Rachel Whiteread. Public Art Fund Watertower Project. 1997.
12' high, 9' diameter.

17. Carving
• Carving
– Subtractive process-removing parts of the
original material to reveal the sculpture
– This type of sculpture is very unforgiving,
mistakes are hard or impossible to correct
– Different types of stone dictate different
types of carvings

18. Stones Wood
• Marble is a tradition material
that is soft and relatively stable,
but can be damaged in weather
• Granite is great for outdoors,
but is hard to carve fine detail
into because of it’s hardness
• Sandstone/limestone is easy to
carve but will be worn down by
weather
• Jade was used in China.
Beautiful but can crack easily
• Basalt is a rough stone used in
many Mexican Olmecs that is
hard to carve detail into
• Walnut and cypress
are strong woods
often preferred
• Joint block
construction-
different parts of the
sculpture are carved
separately and then
put together

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Michelangelo Buonarroti. Awakening Slave. 1530–1534.
Height 9'.

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Massive Stone Head. 12th–10th Centuries B.C.E. Olmec.
Height 65".

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Elizabeth Catlett. Mother and Child #2. 1971.
Height 38".

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Guanyin of the Southern Sea (Nanhai Guanyin). Chinese. 11th–12th
Century, Liao Dynasty (907–1125).
95" × 65" (241.3 × 165.1 cm).

24. Constructing and Assembling
• In the past, the accepted forms of traditional
sculpture were modeling, carving and casting
• Assemblage and constructed pieces are,
made from multiple parts or materials and
assembled in a new way
– Ex: welding, nailing, gluing…
• Found object art-using old or abandoned
objects to create an artwork

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Deborah Butterfield. Conure. 2007.
92-1/2" × 119" × 30" (235 × 302.3 × 76.2 cm).

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Marc André Robinson. Throne for the Greatest Rapper of All Time. 2005.
76" × 69" × 48".

27. Kinetic Sculpture
• Kinetic Sculpture-a sculpture that
moves

28. Mixed Media
• Mixed media-using multiple types of
materials to create one artwork

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Lara Schnitger. Grim Boy. 2005.
71" × 59" × 20".

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Matthew Monahan. The Seller and the Sold. 2006.
67" × 25" × 25".

31. Installations and Site-Specific Art
• Installation- transforms a space into the
artwork

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Richard Serra. Tilted Arc. 1981. Height 12'.

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Olaf Eliasson. The Weather Project (The Unilever Series). 2003.
26.7 m × 22.3 m × 155.4 m.