Sculpture definitions

Loads of writing but yeah here's some definitions of Sculpture...

Sculpture

“Sculpture is something without practical use.”

Noun: sculpture

1. The art of making two- or three-dimensional representative or abstract forms, especially by carving stone or wood or by casting metal or plaster.
2. The art of carving, modelling, welding, or otherwise producing figurative or abstract works of art in three dimensions, as in relief, intaglio, or in the round.
3. The art of making figures or designs in relief or the round by carving wood, moulding plaster, etc, or casting metals, etc.

Verb: sculpture

1. Make or represent (a form) by carving, casting, or other shaping techniques.

"The choir stalls were each carefully sculptured"

1. To carve, model, weld, or otherwise produce (a piece of sculpture).
2. To carve, cast, or fashion three dimensionally

What is sculpture?

Sculpture is three-dimensional art. Traditionally, there are two main methods: carving material such as wood or stone, and modeling forms by adding pieces of material such as clay. Modern artists have explored new materials and techniques.

What does the term ‘three-dimensional’ mean?

The term refers to the three dimensions of space - length, breadth, and depth. It is a useful way of distinguishing between art such as painting, drawing, and prints, which are two-dimensional (flat), and sculpture, which is three-dimensional.

How is sculpture made?

Techniques depend upon the materials used. When carving stone or wood, the sculptor chips away with a hammer and chisel. When sculpting clay, artists may use their hands. Clay models may be cast in bronze to create a strong, permanent sculpture. Other techniques include welding metal, moulding plastic or concrete, and using fibreglass.

What is Relief Sculpture?

Relief in sculpture; any work in which the figures project from a supporting background, usually a plane surface. Reliefs are classified according to the height of the figures’ projection or detachment from the background. In a low relief, or bas-relief, the design projects only slightly from the ground and there is little or no undercutting of outlines. In a high relief, the forms project at least half or more of their natural circumference from the background and may in parts be completely disengaged from the ground, thus approximating sculpture in the round. Middle relief, falls roughly between the high and low forms. A variation of relief carving, found almost exclusively in ancient Egyptian sculpture, is sunken relief, in which the carving is sunk below the level of the surrounding surface and is contained within a sharply incised contour line that frames it with a powerful line of light and shade. Intaglio, likewise, is a sunken relief but is carved as a negative image like a mold instead of a positive (projecting) form.

Not all sculptures are carved in the round. Relief sculptures are carved on one side only, and stand out from a background surface. Relief panels have been used since ancient times, often to decorate important buildings, such as temples and churches.

What’s the difference between relief work and sculpture?

Relief work is flatter than sculpture as a general rule. Sculpture is mainly free standing, rather than being built in to a wall like relief sculpture traditionally would be.

Public Art

Public art must be safe for people to be around, not offensive and appropriate, but not necessarily appropriate for the environment it’s in, as this is often what sculpture is about - taking something out of context. For example, Duchamp created the sculpture ‘The Fountain’, which was a men’s urinal turned on its back and taken out of context. So he basically took an object with practical use, removed its practicality and called it art. This is something which was part of the Dada Movement.

The Dada Movement

Dada or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century. Dada was born out of negative reaction to the horrors of World War I. This international movement was begun by a group of artists and poets associated with the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. Dada rejected reason and logic, prizing nonsense, irrationality and intuition. The origin of the name Dada is unclear; some believe that it is a nonsensical word. Others maintain that it originates from the Romanian artists Tristan Tzara's and Marcel Janco's frequent use of the words "da, da," meaning "yes, yes" in the Romanian language. Another theory says that the name "Dada" came during a meeting of the group when a paper knife stuck into a French-German dictionary happened to point to 'dada', a French word for 'hobbyhorse'.

The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestoes, art theory, theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. In addition to being anti-war, Dada was also anti-bourgeois and had political affinities with the radical left.

Dada activities included public gatherings, demonstrations, and publication of art/literary journals; passionate coverage of art, politics, and culture were topics often discussed in a variety of media. Key figures in the movement included Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Johannes Baader, Tristan Tzara, Francis Picabia, Richard Huelsenbeck, George Grosz, John Heartfield, Marcel Duchamp, Beatrice Wood, Kurt Schwitters, and Hans Richter, among others. The movement influenced later styles like the avant-garde and downtown music movements, and groups including surrealism, Nouveau réalisme, pop art and Fluxus.