ELEMENTS OF THREE DIMENSIONAL

COMPARISON of 2-D & 3-D

SIMULARITIES:• Basic design elements are organized to communicate ideas, express

emotions, and create functional objects.• Basic principles of designed are used to create images and objects

that offer an effective balance between unity and variety• In both 2-D/3-D design, concept development and critical thinking

are essential aspects of the creative process.

DIFFERENCES:• 2-D we use our technical, perceptual, and conceptual skills to create

flat visual patterns and convincing illusions. • 3-D our experience is physical and direct.• 3-D the materials used determines its structural strength as well as

its aesthetic appeal.

What is Form?

EXAMPLE:2-D SHAPES: CIRCLE, SQUARE, AND A TRIANGLE

gone

3-D FORMS: SPHERE, CUBE, AND A PYRAMID

CHAPTER 6: FORM WAS DEFINED AS THE

PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF AN IDEA.

TYPES OF FORM: VOLUME MASS

DEFINITIONS:•Volume:• 2-D: A three-dimensional form that has been represented using the illusion of space• 3-D: A empty three-dimensional form

•MASS:• 3-D: A solid three dimensional form

Jiang Yan-zeAssemblage-1, 2002

Slip casting, bone china

VOLUMEMASS

David Fried, Stemmers, 2006, solid acrylic forms and urethane,

paint

3-Dimensional Composition

Robert LongoEric, 1994, lithograph

Ron MueckUntitled, 1999

ORGANIC FORMS• Definition: Forms that visually suggest nature or natural forces.

Also known as biomorphic shapeOrganic forms create a very different effect than geometric forms

Ninety artists from Belgium shipped 100 miles of wooden beams to the playa, and nail-gunned them into a free-form cavern 15 stories high.

Jan Kriekels and Arne Quinze, Uchronia, Measuring almost 200 feet long, 100 feet wide and almost 50 feet tall, Burning Man 2006

MOVEMENT IN FORMSTATIC FORMS: Appear stable and unmoving

Rachel Whiteread, Ghost, 1990, casted concrete

DYNAMIC FORMS – Implies movement, energy

Richard Serra, A Matter of Time, 2005, 8 bent steel, 32,000 square foot

KINETIC FORMS: Forms that actually moves

Alexander CalderNumbered One to Seven1950painted sheet metal and wire82 x 62 inches

George Rickey Eight Lines

1987kinetic sculpture of brushed aluminum

62 ½ by 55 by 6 inches

Theo Jansen

Christian Cerrito & Petra Farinha's Solar chandelier

FORM AND FUNCTION

AN ARTIST SEEKS TO EXPRESS CONCEPTS AND EVOKE EMOTIONS

An artist explores an idea, chooses materials, and develops a composition based on his or her

aesthetic intention.

DESIGNERS uses the same mastery of concept, composition, and materials to create an object that is functional as well as beautiful.

Form must fulfill a specific function or purpose.

Designer: Reddish, Tub Chair,A bath, steel, 70L X 58W X 70H cm

Designer: Jan PuylaertLTB illuminated sink, actual size sink

Designer and Sculptor

Both have a different purposes yet both uses the same basic elements and principles of design:

– Organize line, plane, volume, mass, space, texture, and color into coherent form

– Structural integrity in a sculpture is just as important as the structural integrity of a teapot or a public art project

THE THREE DIMENSIONS IN A 3-D DESIGNHEIGHT x WIDTH x DEPTH

Depth or z axis

Width or x axis

Three-Dimensional form on a Two Dimensional surface

In computer aided designs you used the same axes as used in geometry

Height or y axis

DEGREES OF DIMENSIONALITYThe degree of our physical involvement with the artwork strongly affects

our understanding of both the form and the content

FOUR VARIATIONS

RELIEF

Robert Longo Corporate Wars 1982 casted aluminum lacquer on wood relief 7x9x3’

Relief starts with a flat backing as a base for the three dimensional form, like a sculptural painting.

LOW RELIEF

More three-dimensional: front and two sides

THREE-QUARTER WORKS

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

The Dance

1869

Randolphlee McIver, Girl Front ViewAugust 30, 1996, Plaster Relief,

30″ × 25″ × 9½″

Designed to be seen from all sides -“in the round”

FREESTANDING WORKS

Crowd, 2004, Cast burlapMagdalena Abakanowicz

80 backs, 1976-80, burlap and resin life size

Presents a space than can be physically enteredSuch works often require audience participation and

may present a series of images, ideas, and experiences that unfold over time

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKS

INSTALLATIONS

Usually presented indoors

Usually an installation is an ensemble of images and objects that are presented within a three-dimensional environment

Installations can involve multi media and technology

INSTALLATIONS

Cai Guo-Qiang "I Want To Believe”

Car installation at the Guggenheim in NY city

• Usually present outdoors

• An earthwork is a large scale outdoor installation

• Can expand great distances in time and space

• Require substantial physical engagement by the artist, audience, and inhabitants of the site

• An artwork that extends far beyond the walls of a museum or gallery

EARTHWORKS

EARTHWORKS

Maya Lin Wave Field, 90’x90’

SITE-SPECIFIC ARTWORK

Toronto 1989

Catedral de Cadeiras, Ville de Reims France 2007

TADASHI KAWAMATA

An artwork that is specifically designed and

installed a particular place

Three-Dimensional uses the following elements as part of its basic building blocks:

Line Plane

VolumesMassSpace

TextureLight Colorand Time

Line Shape

TextureValueand

Color

LINELine can connect, define, or divide a design. It can be static or

dynamic, increasing or decreasing the stability of the form.Line can be created through a series of adjacent points

Ant Farm’s (Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, Doug Michels) Cadillac Ranch, 1974 commissioned by a rancher in Texas

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California 1972-76, 24.5 miles

“a celebration of the landscape.... The fabric is a light-conductor for the sunlight, and it will give shape to the wind. It will go over the hills and into the sea, like a ribbon of light.”

Christo

LINE• A connection between points

• A point in motion

Orientation horizontal, vertical, or diagonal

Direction refers to the implied movement of a line

LINE QUALITY

Continuity or linear flow can increase movement and accentuate form

MARK DI SUVEROARIKIDEA1982Cor-Ten steel, steel, wood

MARK DI SUVERO MOLECULE 1983steel, paint

Can connect, define, or divide a design

ACTUAL LINES

Gordon Matta-Clark

Splitting: Exterior

1974

Splitting: Interior

Are created through mental rather than physical connections

IMPLIED LINESSight line - A viewing line that is established by the arrangement of objects within one’s field of vision

Nancy Holt

Sun Tunnels

1973-76

LINE NETWORKS

Eve Hesse, Untitled, 1970