WORLD OF ART EIGHTH EDITION CHAPTER Shape and Space World of Art, Eighth Edition Henry M Sayre Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc or its affiliates All rights reserved Learning Objectives Differentiate between shape and mass Describe how three-dimensional space is represented on a flat surface using perspective Explain why modern artists have challenged the means of representing three dimensions on two-dimensional surfaces Introduction of • Shape is a two-dimensional area  Julie Mehretu's Berliner Plätze features layers of place, space, and time that emerge from the flat shape of the canvas • Perspective is a system that allows the picture plane to function as a convincing window into its subject Julie Mehretu, Berliner Plätze 2008–09 Ink and acrylic on canvas, 10 × 14' Commissioned by Deutsche Bank AG in consultation with the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation for the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin © Julie Mehretu, courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery [Fig 4-1] Introduction of • The Deutsche Bank and Guggenheim Museum commissioned a group of works known as Grey Area, meant to display ambiguous spaces • Space has become an increasingly contested issue, especially in an age where the Internet and cyberspace dominate our daily lives Shape and Mass of • Ellsworth Kelly's Three Panels: Orange, Dark Gray, Green applies the shapes to the gallery wall as though it were the canvas  The wall became the ground in the figure–ground relation  Shapes between figures are known as negative shapes, and the figures themselves are positive shapes Ellsworth Kelly, Three Panels: Orange, Dark Gray, Green 1986 Oil on canvas, overall 9' 8" × 34' 4-1/2 in Museum of Modern Art, New York Gift of Douglas S Cramer Foundation, 776 © 2015 Ellsworth Kelly [Fig 4-2] Rubin vase [Fig 4-3] Shape and Mass of • A mass is a solid that occupies threedimensional volume  It can be measured with height, width, and depth  For example, a circle is a shape but a sphere has mass • Martin Puryear's Self appears to possess weight and density, but is lightweight and made from wood Martin Puryear, Self 1978 Polychromed red cedar and mahogany, 5' 9" × 4' × 25" Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha Museum purchase in memory of Elinor Ashton, 1980.63 © Martin Puryear [Fig 3-4] Paul Strand, Abstraction, Porch Shadows 1916 Silver platinum print, 12-15/15 ì 9-1/8" â Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive [Fig 4-25] Paul Strand, Geometric Backyards, New York 1917 Platinum print 10 ì 13-1/8" â Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive [Fig 4-26] Experiments with Space in Painting of • Painters explored the act of imagination that led to a painting rather than the realistic depiction of subject matter • Harmony in Red (The Red Room) by Matisse shows a flattened space with unified color and design  Tree trunks within the frame of the window or painting mimic the winding designs on the wall and table Henri Matisse, Harmony in Red (The Red Room) 1908–09 Oil on canvas, 5' 10-7/8" × 7' 2-5/8" The Hermitage, St Petersburg © 2015 Succession H Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: Archives H Matisse, © 2015 Succession H Matisse [Fig 4-27] Experiments with Space in Painting of • Most notable in Cézanne's Mme Cézanne in a Red Armchair is the lack of spatial depth  The painting is almost entirely flat where the left side of the armchair meets the wall behind it  The stripes on the figure's dress not delineate the shape of her lap Paul Cézanne, Mme Cézanne in a Red Armchair ca 1877 Oil on canvas, 28-1/2 × 22" Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Bequest of Robert Treat Paine II, 44.77.6 Photograph © 2015 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [Fig 4-28] Experiments with Space in Painting of • Terry Winter, in Color and Information, uses a web of circuit-like squares around a central pole  The artist transformed digital information from when he scanned in drawings for woodcuts, modifying their size and color  The work brings order yet chaos, image yet abstraction, and information despite information overload Terry Winters, Color and Information 1998 Oil and alkyd resin on canvas, × 12' Terry Winters, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery, New York [Fig 4-29] Digital Space of • Chinese artist Feng Mengbo created 42 paintings in the Game Over: Long March series that envisioned an imaginary video game • The project was later turned into an actual video game based on the Communist Party's Red Army under the command of Mao Zedong Digital Space of • The work was retitled Long March: Restart and consisted of two 80-footlong walls  Viewers can take control of the Red Army soldier and move the avatar through five screens and 14 levels of play, each progressively faster and more difficult Feng Mengbo, Long March: Restart 2008 Video-game installation, each screen approx 20 ì 80' Museum of Modern Art, New York â 2015 Digital image, Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence [Fig 4-30] The Critical Process: Thinking about Space of • Ten Thousand Waves by Isaac Julien, inspired by the drowning of 23 Chinese cockle pickers in England, shows tragedy juxtaposed with the Chinese fable, "The Tale of Yishan Island." • A third story of a contemporary goddess adds to what seems like a chaotic landscape Isaac Julien, Ten Thousand Waves 2010 Installation view, Nine-screen installation, 35 mm film, transferred to High Definition, 9.2 surround sound, 49 41 sec Edition of plus 1AP Courtesy of the Artist and Victoria Miro, London, Metro Pictures, New York, and Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid © Isaac Julien Photography © Adrian Zhou [Fig 4-31] The Critical Process: Thinking about Space of • However, a single, fixed viewpoint is an institutionalized one; the work suggests that a new perception of space may be like the typical sensory experience of daily life Thinking Back Differentiate between shape and mass Describe how three-dimensional space is represented on a flat surface using perspective Explain why modern artists have challenged the means of representing three dimensions on two-dimensional surfaces ... lightweight and made from wood Martin Puryear, Self 1978 Polychromed red cedar and mahogany, 5' 9" × 4' × 25" Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha Museum purchase in memory of Elinor Ashton, 1980.63 © Martin Puryear... Julie Mehretu, courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery [Fig 4-1] Introduction of • The Deutsche Bank and Guggenheim Museum commissioned a group of works known as Grey Area, meant to display ambiguous... Castello Sforzesco, Milan © Comune di Milano All rights reserved [Fig 4-6] Umberto Boccioni, Development of a Bottle in Space 1913 Bronze, 15-1/2 ×23-3/4 × 15-1/2" Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York