Sculpture Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This essay provides an analysis of the Andaman Islands exhibit at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. It explores the ways in which a display of near-life-size clay models, complete with indigenous-made manufactures, presented a specific vision of the region to a popular British audience. Using visual evidence, archival material and contemporary commentary on the exhibition, the essay investigates the mechanics of the exhibition paradigm, documenting its impact upon audiences’ perceptions of the Andamanese peoples. It argues that the models were intended and were successfully received as tools with which to popularize scholarly judgements of the region’s peoples at the lowest point of a perceived sociocultural-evolutionary hierarchy, and demonstrates how this specific exhibit was employed as dynamic, decorative visual entertainment for a metropolitan audience. The implications of the substitution of clay figures for real human bodies will be examined, and it will be argued that this particular medium acted as an absorbent surface upon which British audiences could safely posit perceived ‘truths’ about their distant subjects. Whereas ‘living exhibits’ were able to challenge the terms of their representation, the static models were seen to verify colonial concerns regarding the violent depravity, overt sexuality and corporeal availability of the non-Western ‘other’.

Abstract: Some reflections arising from meetings, in 1952 at his Paris atelier in the Impasse Ronsin, with Constantin Brâncuşi [1876-1957]. His humanity and his values are contrasted with some other systems of thought. His forms are Platonic. His culture is European ; not simply by virtue of his friendships with major creative figures, but as an expression of the European identity of pre-communist and even prehistoric Romanian culture.

- by John Nandris
- •
- Romanian Studies, Sculpture, European culture, Constantin Brancusi
- by Cristine Galindo Adler
- •
- Art History, Sculpture, Mexican Art, Photomontage

Arts-based Education in Outdoor Learning is a compendium of artistic endeavour created for the purposes of learning. The contents stem mainly from teaching BA undergraduate Outdoor students at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK, showcased here to promote critical discussion on Outdoor issues and foster pedagogical progress wherever that may be found. This introduction outlines the structure of the book, which also illuminates the plan of teaching that has brought about such a vibrant collection of chapters. The ethos of my educational mission has been for students to become philosophical about things, ‘having ideas’ with a view to making a comment about some state of affairs in the Outdoors. With a nugget of an idea latched on to, fuelled with some passion, the next step was to transform that idea into some physical presence through an artistic medium; shape it. Thereafter, the academic task was to polish and present the artwork with a supporting chapter, in order to communicate their idea to the world; share it. The creation of art in this context was always a means to an educational end, the artworks being an impressive by-product from this experience – but now the artworks are leading the show, representing the style of education we enjoyed. It seems worth mentioning at the outset, that all the Outdoor students I have taught are not artists, they are climbers, canoeists and mountaineers. They never came to university to do or study art and nor did I teach them as such. If I have done anything, it was to free up the possibility of thinking slightly differently about topics they chose, and then equip them with some basic artistic tools to play with those ideas. As a result, I discovered a huge increase in student confidence and a palpable increase in enjoyment of learning, as much for me as their teacher as for them. In effect, what I did was invite into my classroom a raft of untapped talent in thinking and learning that suddenly had a place in their university degrees.

- by Clive Palmer (National Teaching Fellow)
- •
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Creativity, Literature
- by Sante Guido
- •
- Art History, Art, Medieval History, Cultural Heritage

Ce premier catalogue de la collection arts décoratifs de la Fondation Gandur pour l’Art est consacré aux œuvres de l’art occidental sacré et profane du XIIe au XVIIIe siècle, pourvues d’une double fonction ornementale et narrative. Porteuses d’une valeur symbolique ou spirituelle, sculptures, plaques émaillées, majoliques et tapisseries puisent leur inspiration dans les répertoires chrétien et antique constitutifs de la culture européenne. Organisé en cinq grands chapitres thématiques déterminés par l’iconographie des œuvres, cet ouvrage replace chacune d’elle dans son contexte social, culturel et religieux, invitant à un parcours pluriel parmi ces témoignages de l’histoire des croyances et des sensibilités, du Moyen Âge au Siècle des lumières.
Avec les contributions de Françoise Barbe, Muriel Barbier, Marion Boudon-Machuel, Grégoire Extermann, Jutta Kappel, Valérie Kobi, Brigitte Roux et Frédéric Tixier.

- by Fabienne Fravalo
- •
- Sculpture, Tapestries, Renaissance maiolica, Limoges Enamels
- by José Roda Peña
- •
- History of Sculpture, Sculpture, Spanish Sculpture, 18th Century

This study focuses on the artworks of artist-academic İlker Yardımcı. The perspective put forward in the study is built on the aesthetic status of the scientific and technological aspects of İlker Yardımcı's artwork. Based on this context, a research has been done on the relationships between art and science. Various examples have been given from the times when art and science were seen as a whole and did not dissociate, and the development and separation process of these two separate phenomena were approached from various angles. In this way, in the light of the information obtained from the research, an aesthetic understanding that is open to the effects of science and technology, combining technological possibilities with traditional structures has been tried to be determined. Through this way, the possibility of an aesthetic narration was opened on the situation in the sculptures of İlker Yardımcı. Thus, the traces of the aesthetics in these sculptures, including science, were deciphered.

- by ilker yardimci
- •
- Human Computer Interaction, Art History, Contemporary Art, Computer Aided Design

Sculptures of athletes that immortalize heroic feats have long been part of the sporting world. More recently, statues of sports fans have appeared, particularly at baseball stadiums across North America. Whilst athlete statues usually represent specific subjects, fan statues typically depict anonymous figures, giving commissioners and sculptors broader license to incorporate particular ideals. This paper investigates how the fan statuary's form reflects commissioners' motivations, values, and views of fandom, and whether fan statues promote a preferred (but often imaginary) narrative regarding the fan experience. A tripartite fan statue design typology is proposed: hero worship, family experiences, and the crowd. By examining an example of each type, with context provided by a unique database of baseball statuary, the fan statuary's predominant themes and tensions are illustrated. Fan statues are concentrated at Minor League ballparks, and all feature children. The majority are alloys of both real and imagined components of the idealized fan experience of the baseball organization's 'ideal fan', projecting inclusive, family-friendly, and timeless game day experiences, and evoking nostalgia for childhood. Crowd-type statues offer a more free-spirited and spontaneous aesthetic, with the crowd creating and becoming part of the spectacle -a reality that sports organizations may be less comfortable with.

- by Gregory Ramshaw and +1
- •
- Marketing, History, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Studies
- by Stefano Grandesso and +1
- •
- Sculpture, Neoclassicism, Scultura, Neoclassical sculpture

Socially engaged art since the 1990s has become a global trend. The practices of socially engaged arts, while creating new kinds of arts and opening up the entire institutional domain of the art world, are inseparable from the practices of museums that undertake significant changes. In this essay, I theorize the concept of “socially engaged art museum” - a practice that unveils art as an aesthetic force for rendering everyday life performative or playful - to examine both socially engaged arts and museums under what the philosopher Jacques Rancière calls “aesthetic regime of art” (2009). Comparing with the current scholarship that mostly examines European and American examples, I examine cases from Chinese contemporary art. Specifically, I discuss artistic practices of the Yangdeng Art Collective in Southwestern China. My argument is that a socially engaged art museum - qualitatively different from a conventional art museum that engages social life through its curated collections and exhibitions - is both a context-specific artwork of aesthetic experience and a technology of the individualized self in contemporary risk society. Not only does this study question the common scholarly view of socially engaged arts as “post-autonomous” or “anti-aesthetic,” but it also advances a notion of sociality that accounts for the complexity of everyday life.

- by Hai Ren
- •
- Social Sculpture, Technologies of the Self, Sculpture, Chinese contemporary art

Impreso en España-Unión Europea © de la edición, Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza © de los textos y fotografía, sus autores La Diputación Provincia de Zaragoza no se identifica ni responsabiliza de los juicios ni de las opiniones vertidas por los autores de los textos que exponen en uso de la libertad intelectual que cordialmente se les brinda.

- by Javier Martínez Molina
- •
- Art History, Sculpture, Italian Baroque art, Spanish painting

Hedlin Hayden, M., 2003: Out of Minimalism: The Referential Cube. Contextualising sculptures by Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Rachel Whiteread. Written in English. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Figura Nova series 29. 282 pp. Diss.,... more

- by Malin Hedlin Hayden
- •
- Art Theory, Contemporary Art, Minimalism, Sculpture

An undergraduate dissertation examining hogback stones in relation to their wider context using place-names, topgraphy, vernacular poetry, Domesday Book and various narrative sources such as the Historia de Sancto Cuthberto. By these means hogback stones are tied more firmly to the Hiberno-Norse and the wider political and aristoractic context of contemporary northern England, suggesting a greater deal of continuity between pre- and post-Viking society than is often supposed. The importance of examining sculpture with reference to its wider context is also made clear. (Any feedback would be much appreciated.)

- by Catherine Yates
- •
- Anglo-Saxon Studies, Viking Studies, Sculpture, Anglo-Saxon Sculpture

Die Summerschool fand wie das Kolloquium “Umgang mit Antike(n)” [TAF 19] in Zusammenhang mit einer vom 11.4.14-15.01.15 im Rittersaal von Schloß Hohentübingen gezeigten Sonderausstellung statt, die diesmal dem Thema “Bunte Götter. Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur” gewidmet war. Der Band enthält eine Einführung und wiederum 24 Beiträge aus den Bereichen Architektur und Skulptur, Technik und Methode sowie Projekte und Qualifikationsarbeiten. Konkret geht es um den Weg vom Denkmal zur Rekonstruktion, die Archäologischen Parks von Xanten und Kempten, das “Schinkelprojekt” für das Thorvaldsen Museum Kopenhagen, den Ostfries des Siphnierschatzhauses, die Farben der Kouroi, des Zeus von Olympia, eines Perserkopfes, der Mädchenfigur Akro. 682, eines Caesarkopfes und antiker Grabstelen, um die antike Künstlerhand von Faßmalern, sog. Chrysocolla, Metallapplikationen, Anstückungen aus Marmor und Metall, den “Jüngling mit Siegerbinde”, die Wirkung von Einsatzaugen, das Projekt “Digitales Forum Romanum”, den Jagdfries von Vergina, zerstörungsfreie Röntgenanalyseverfahren, den Greifenprotomenguß, die “Grotta di Tiberio” und eine Venus in Bordeaux.

- by Verena V. Hoft
- •
- Archaeology, Sculpture, Greek Archaeology, Ancient Greek and Roman Art

This paper explores in detail the 37 carved cadaver monuments that exist in England (ECCMs). These monuments have been described by Panofsky as having a lifelike effigy and ‘showing the deceased as a mere corpse, wrapped only in a shroud which … may reveal much of his nude form as was compatible with modesty, but nearly always divested of all signs of worldly power and wealth, and often represented in a state of more or less advanced decomposition’. Dating between c1420/1425 and 1588, 10 of these now conform to Panofsky’s ‘double-decked tomb’ design (11 originally), including 1 of a female, whilst the remaining 27 (originally 26) are of his ‘isolated transi’ design (1964: 64). Having examined all the 37 ECCMs, I argue that most of these sculptures actually depict a naked emaciated individual very recently deceased. Whilst 2 do show an open chest cavity, close inspection of them reveals muscle definition or bodily form rather than skeletal frame, and thus the rotting description of Panofsky and later scholars, is debatable. My recent work on these late-medieval memorials, as well as examining their form, places them in the context of purgatorial punishments as well as prayers for the dead, and I posit that the notion of post-mortem sentience is required to enable a contemporary interpretation of their original function.
This paper then will present my ‘take’ on the form and function of these transis, giving an overview of them, particularly in terms of shroud style, and given that anatomisation was rare during the period, also their anatomical accuracy (or otherwise), as both aspects I argue, give us potential clues on their manufacture. It will also discuss my findings that two of these ECCMs (in 1 specific church) have been deliberately swopped around possibly during the church’s restructuring in the Victorian-era, and will highlight the web site I have set up on these sculptures (see http://eccm37.wix.com/eccm).

- by Christina Welch
- •
- Art History, Medieval History, Early Modern History, Medieval Studies

The dissertation, titled La committenza artistica dei Templari e degli Ospitalieri in Emilia Romagna, tries, through a multidisciplinary approach, to reconstruct the artistic heritage of two monastic and chivalrous Orders in the region. The dissertation was conceived in order to reflect, also in the structural level, the survey methodology: the first chapter was dedicated to an historical analysis of the two Orders, with particular attention to the relation between them and the art-world; the second chapter, instead, was focused on the relating artistic historiography and on a challenging archive investigations, that, above all through the use of an extensive and unpublished documentation, permitted to reveal new elements for a better understanding of the settlements’ net and their decoration. The research continued with the specific historic and artistic reconstruction of the commanderies: through a survey about the specific settlements, I tried to point out the artistic and historic events of its protagonists. Subsequently, without claiming to draw conclusions in a work that necessarily is in becoming, I developed some reflections on the nature, the limits, the characteristics and developments of the artistic patronage. Finally, the card’s stylistic analysis completed my investigation, giving meaning to the historic and documentary surveys. In this way I rediscovered an extensive and articulated artistic heritage that combines masterpieces and more modest works, but in any case capable of delineating the history of their authors (some of them, like Aristotele Fioravanti, Girolamo da Treviso, Pietro Bembo and Ranuccio Farnese, real protagonists of the time), in a continue and substantial dialogue with the artistic cultures that crossed the region, and not only the region, between Middle Age and Early Modernity.

- by Paolo Cova
- •
- Art History, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies

A unique group of sculpture from Early Christian Cyprus comes from the so-called Villa of Theseus, at Nea Paphos. The group comprises (at least) twenty sculptures of divinities and mythological figures, which range in date from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman periods. Their discovery with connection to late antique layers demonstrates the long-lasting importance of sculpture to the villa culture and confirms the empire-wide appreciation of local elites to the medium in late antique times. In this paper, the decoration of the Villa of Theseus will be re-assessed in order to efficiently envisage its sculptural environment, between the late fourth and late sixth centuries. Possibilities for the display and usage of the sculptures within the villa will be offered, while possible reasons for the selection of particular iconographical types will also be suggested, within the broader context of Nea Paphos.

- by Panayiotis Panayides
- •
- Architecture, Cyprus Studies, Late Antique Archaeology, Early Christianity

TWOMBLY 'a selection of essays' is the fruit of a long study on the work of the artist. It gathers for the first time in one volume articles which have been presented in the past on various occasions (magazines/conferences etc.) and... more

- by Anthi-Danaé Spathoni
- •
- Sculpture, Cy Twombly
- by Michael Turner FSA FLS
- •
- History, Ancient History, Cultural History, Classical Archaeology
- by Panayiotis Panayides
- •
- Iconography, Cyprus Studies, Late Antique Archaeology, Early Christianity
- by Andrea Bernardoni
- •
- Sculpture, History of Military Technology, Metal Casting, History of Chemistry
- by Sebastiaan Ostkamp
- •
- Historical Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology, History of Sculpture, Sculpture

While computer-aided design programs have limited use area in the past, they began to be used in different design fields with the appearance of new software in the advancing times. In the study, this process was mentioned and the information of updated method as well as modelling and design ways applied with the possibilities of computer-aided design programs. In parallel with the technology and the rapid development of computer-aided design software, as one of the basic application features that will contribute to perform the design and modelling requirements of fields of which the possibility of use is created, contributions of Boolean operations were described in terms of its methods and visuals. The design and modelling stages of a sculptural work performed by the Boolean operation and the performance of a sculptural work with computer-aided design facilities were transferred in the last part.
Keywords:Art, Sculpture, Computer, Design, Modeling

- by ilker yardimci
- •
- Performing Arts, Sculpture, Visual Arts, Public sculpture

Es realmente asombroso lo que puede llegar a hacerse con una simple barra negra que tizna todo lo que pille. No tienen más que recordar su infancia para darse cuenta de lo que disfrutaban trazando rayas en cualquier parte. Más tarde, cuando hay que hacerlo por obligación, la mayoría pierde el entusiasmo. Pero quedan unos privilegiados que no solo disfrutan sino que además consiguen dibujar bastante bien. El resto se pregunta ¿Por qué ellos si y yo no?

- by Fabo Avelar
- •
- Art, Science Fiction, Drawing, Sculpture
- by FULYA ASYALI
- •
- Sculpture, Mixed Media Artwork, Existentialism, Absurdism, Surrealism
- by Geraldine A Johnson
- •
- Photography, History of Sculpture, Sculpture, Brancusi

In her book, "Indian Classical dance", Kapila Vatsyayan describes dance as the highest order of spiritual discipline, the enactment of which is symbolic of a ritual sacrifice of one's being to a transcendental order. The Natya-Shashtra, a treatise on drama and dance, reveals the status of the performing arts as equal to prayer and sacrificial rites in the pursuit of moksha, the release form cycles of rebirth. Both dance and dancer function as a vehicle for divine invocation and are mirrored in the architectural surroundings. To investigate this connection between dance and place, it is imperative to understand the mythical origins of architecture and temple dance. the Hindu philosophy of the cosmic man and its religious relationship with the Dravidian architecture of Tamil Nadu is the starting point of the discussion of a south Indian aesthetic. The Vastu-purusha mandala is a philosophical diagram that provides a foundation for Hindu aesthetics, linking physical distance, religious position and universal scale in both time and space. Used as an architectural diagram, it becomes a mediator between the human body and the cosmos. The temple, as a setting for dance performances, and constructed based on the mandala, shares this quality of immersing its participants into a multi-sensory spatial experience. However, while the link between architecture and dance culture was explicit up to the 18th century, it is less compelling in the context of modern south Indian architecture. With an increasingly unstable political landscape during the 20th century, architectural growth in south India during this period is almost stagnant. Unfortunately, this creates a break in the continuity and comparative evolution of dance and architecture, leading to the fragmentation and abstraction of dance in its modern form. South Indian dance has since transformed into a prominent cultural symbol and various incarnations of the dancer have become the isolated yet important link, between tradition and modernity. As an evolving living embodiment of contemporary culture and identity, her transformation from Devadasi, to an icon of nationalism, to a choreographer of 'high art' provides the foundation for the reintegration of architecture in the cultural fabric. The culmination of this research aims to reinstate the importance of architecture as a cultural nexus in order to restring a fragmented dance, community and cultural identity.

- by Tracey Eve Winton
- •
- Design, Architecture, Ritual, Mandalas

Authorship: A. Fuchs, A. H. Cooper, I. Gans, M. Krempler, M Malpass 2015. This paper describes the provenance and restoration of the alabaster monument to Duke Ulrich in Güstrow Cathedral, Germany. The alabaster is shown to be of English... more

- by Anthony H Cooper
- •
- History of Sculpture, Sculpture, Gypsum, Alabaster Sculpture

Touching impermanence describes the experiential moment in an art encounter when one senses the enchanted reality of one's interconnections wit the sentient matterflow of existence. All matter in existence is constantly vibrating, changing, assembling and evolving into forms and organisms, cycli through decay and disintegration, then reforming again with diversity and difference; this is the impermanence of sentient matter-flow. Humans are j one form of these reciprocal assemblages; we are within and part of sentient matter-flow. We also co-create with sentient matter-flow, changing the cycles on micro and macro levels, just as they change us. On a macro level human actions have impacted and changed the Earth's biosphere, altering polluting sentient matter-flows to the extent that our present time period is becoming known as the Anthropocene, the human age of destruction an disconnection. There are many efforts to readdress our anthropocentric feelings of apathetic disconnection from the Earth; one is found in the arts correlates with my practice-led research. This doctoral study of sensate experiences of materiality and haptic thinking, which provide both maker an audience with direct palpable experience of time, forms a specific understanding of touching impermanence. My art processes involve working with ta materials such as beeswax; tree branches, stumps and bark; paper; ash; rocks; ice; snow; charcoal; light and fungi. Engaging with these materials cocreatively involves a methodology of touch, multisensorily following materialities' sentient matter-flow. Acting with the material, I am present to th material's own sense of time, interactions, agency, histories, layers of interbeing and interconnections with surrounding matter. This requires being op to the mysteriousness of materials, inviting moments of enchantment within art encounters and the realisation of touching impermanence. This thesis investigates my studio practice and works produced, alongside related practices of Australian and international artists, by drawing on the intersection between New Materialism discourses and Buddhist philosophy to address aspects of phenomenology and eco-philosophy in the complexities of these practices and artwork encounters. URI:

- by Kath Fries
- •
- Buddhist Philosophy, Installation Art, Contemporary Art, Space and Place

Essay for artists' Website.

- by Michael Amy
- •
- Architecture, Installation Art, Contemporary Art, Glass
- by Devin Singh
- •
- Aesthetics, Contemporary Art, Philosophy of Art, Sculpture
- by Llewellyn BROWN
- •
- Photographs, Photography, Sculpture, Fine Art Photography
- by Yang Liu
- •
- Chinese Studies, History of Sculpture, Sculpture, Chinese archaeology

Deciphering the fascinating history behind a redesigned Takoradi Technical University’s (T.T.U) heraldic crest as well as the secret meaning of its symbols and colours make it significant in heraldry. This heraldic crest has been a depiction of forms such as cogwheel, open book, sea, Adinkra symbol, fonts and colours. This article, therefore, aims to underline the hidden secrets and meanings embodied in the redesigned and sculpted heraldic crest of Takoradi Technical University after Government’s conversion of Polytechnics in Ghana into Technical Universities. Through intrinsic and conceptual statements, the paper projects the artistic and esoteric features of Takoradi Technical University’s heraldic crest in an augmentation to commemorate the
institution’s sovereignty as a symbol of excellence in technical and vocational education. The ramification of newly created institutional heraldry revealed a symbolism crowning the promotion of industrialisation and economic development for the Western Region and Ghana in general through manpower training and action research. This is intended to provide support to industry and commerce in the areas of human resource and information
development

The Tree of Valbella arises out of a special, highly topical constellation in current times. The story behind the project culminated in July 2019 after a long conceptual and production stage, resulting in the construction of the ensemble in Valbella. A spruce in the patron’s garden had to be felled in 2016, a wonderful 124-year-old tree, a precious part of creation. The spruce takes centre stage in Mirko Baselgia’s work of art.
The sculptural ensemble perpetuates the growth of the tree and its destiny; the parts that were used by the Fonderia Nolana Del Giudice in Naples as moulds for bronze casting were cut from its wood. Felling a tree is problematic in times of climate change. Did the artist and patron create a monument to it with the ensemble? No, rather, they breathed new life into the spruce.

- by Laura Giudici
- •
- Philosophy, Art History, Contemporary Art, Sculpture

Publishing house Larcier uses an emblematic figure as a company brand. Since the end of the 19th century, a goddess with helmet and sword adorns its legal publications. Often, the logo is seen as the virtue Justitia, although it also refers to the antique goddess Athena or Minerva. This article argues that this mix-up is neither coincidental nor recent, though must be seen as a numen mixtum, a deliberate iconographic synthesis of two divinities. Combining legal periodicals and legal iconography, the authors show how Brussels’ fin-de-siècle legal professionals, led by Edmond Picard, were convinced that both art and law contributed to the Belgian nation and that the boundaries between artists and jurists were rather thin. Within this legal-artistic climate, art and law, two of Minerva’s key domains, both had to be vulgarized in one and the same effort.
This version, put online two years after publication of the original essay, includes an addendum with three supplementary visual sources that demonstrate the specific authorship of Charles Van der Stappen of the 1891 Larcier logo, as well as the fact that the sculptor reused his existing 1886 Minerva figure and transformed her into Themis in 1894.
[article in Dutch]

- by Stefan Huygebaert
- •
- Art History, Legal History, Periodical Studies, Nineteenth-century Art