Linear Form vs Organic Form

1 Form is a three dimensional response to volume. When one talks about the form of anobject, that person is referring to the fullness, the three-dimensionality of that object.Thinking in terms of drawing, form is the translation of the characteristics of what ishappening between the lines: The inside of an object, the positive spaces,

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thenegative spaces. Drawing can be broad; it has many things it has to deal with- line,composition, figure/ground relationships, focal point, color, etc. The line work of drawings can be either objective, revealing the physical nature of the object; subjective,revealing the personal attitudes and emotions of the artist, or a combination of the two.Think how personally we know the emotional intensity of Vincent Van Gogh through histreatment of such a mundane object as a little wicker chair.Sculpture too exists on these levels. By nature, sculpture is very specific. It’s very muchabout forming an object, having three dimensions, existing in space, but, of course, it willalso take on the personality and the thoughts of the artist who is crafting the piece.Leonardo Da Vinci attempted to establish that art is a mental activity and a science,searching for objective reality. On the other hand, we know that art is an expressive act,relating directly to the subjective experiences of the artist, springing from an “inner necessity” as Kandinsky pointed out. Searching for the structural form of an object is anintellectual part of the objective processes of seeing. Feeling the emotional form of thatobject is also an important part of artmaking.

2The sculptors represented here at the Norton Simon Museum all have real thought behindtheir life-long work. Art is never accidental and arbitrary- the great artist is always purposeful and focused.There are undoubtedly two ways of drawing visible things- by using outlines to definethem precisely, or by treating the planes and curved surfaces as masses through surfacedirectional lines, values, and tones.The lines are either drawn on a flat plane, as a drawing, or in a three dimensional space,as a sculpture. The way the artist thinks of the object in relation to the space around it is akey decider on his approach to the work. Frank Gehry, the architect for Disney Hall, usedsculptural principles when designing this building. Just as any good sculpture, this building activates the space around it

3 Form and space stand in a complimentary relationship to each other. It is necessary to beaware of the space around an object in order to fully understand and see the object itself.For instance, with a piece of furniture the ins and outs of space-- the negative areas(between the legs, through the arms, etc.) contribute quite strongly to the design sense of the object, something every designer must think about.The same is true with both drawing and sculpture. The negative space around the form is just as important in many cases to the object itself as it is to the composition of the work.Barbara Hepworth is a sculptor who is as concerned as much about the space around thesculpture as about the sculpture itself. The space can activate the sculpture and visa versa.Isamu Noguchi the same way.