Lesson 3

Three-Dimensional Art: Form, Volume, Mass, and Texture

Overview
In1802a Frenchartist and archaeologist described his impression of the great pyramids of
Egypt:

On approachin gthese colossal monuments, their angular and inclined form diminishes
the appearance of their height and deceives the eye...but as soon as I begin to measure...these
gigantic productions of art, they recover all their immensity...
(Vivant Denon, Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt)

The massive structures that so impressed Denon have three dimensions, like every object
in our world, which can be expressed as their height, width, and depth (1.28). Because the
pyramids can be measured in these three dimensions they are classified as three-dimensional
works of art, and like the art discussed in this chapter they possess four of the visual elements:
form, volume, mass, and texture. We need to understand these terms in sequence so that we can
analyze and understand three-dimensional art.

Objectives

Learn how form, volume, mass and texture are used in three-dimensional arts.

Course Materials

Read chapter 1.2 of Gateways-to-Art-Understanding-the-Visual-Arts by Debra J. DeWitte,

Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields. 2012

Form

A two-dimensional object, such as a drawing of a triangle, is called a shape. Shapes are

flat. A three-dimensional object, such as a pyramid, is called a form. Forms are tactile; we can
feel them with our hands. Some forms are so tiny they cannot be seen with the naked eye, while
others are as large as a galaxy. When artists and designers create forms, they consider how we
will experience them in three dimensions. Architects usually make buildings that accord with our
physical size, in proportions that are convenient and easy to live in, but sometimes they might
build to a larger scale in order to leave us in awe. A jeweler makes objects at a small scale that
few people can experience at once: we are drawn closer to examine the work more intimately.

Forms have two fundamental attributes: volume and mass. Volume is the amount of space
a form occupies. Mass is the expression that a volume is solid and occupies space, whether it is
enormous like a pyramid or relatively small like a piece of jewelry.

The surface of a form can be cool and slick, rough and jagged, soft and warm. Such
sensations arise from the texture of the form. Texture can be experienced directly, but we can
also imagine how the surface of a form may feel simply by looking at it. Some hand-made objects,
like ceramics or basketry, attract our touch naturally. They were touched by the hands that formed
them, and they fit in our hands just as they used to fit in the hands of the artist. Some machine-
made forms reflect the crisp precision of mechanical perfection; their smooth, shiny forms seduce
our senses. Artists and designers create forms with full knowledge that they can evoke our
memories of other three-dimensional objects in the world and allow us to experience our own
world in a richer way.

Geometric Form

Geometric forms are regular and are readily expressible in words or numbers: cubes,
spheres, cylinders, cones, and pyramids are simple examples. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is a
stunning example of geometric form in architectural design (see Gateway Box: The Great Pyramid
of Khufu,1.30).

Like the ancient Egyptians, the American sculptor David Smith 1906—65) also relied on
geometric forms to create his compositions. In Cubi XIX, made of stainless steel, Smith uses
cubes, cuboids, and a thick disk (1.31). Smith learned welding in an automobile factory and
became expert while fabricating tanks of Thick armor plate during World War II. The late works of
his Cubi series combine geometric forms in angular relationships. The diagonal angles imply
movement, giving these basic geometric forms a visual energy. Smith burnished their surfaces to
create a counterpoint between industrial and natural form.

Organic Form

The form of most things in the natural world is organic: it is irregular and unpredictable.
Living things, such as plants and animals, change constantly, and their forms change too. Artists
accentuate the irregular character of organic form tor expressive effect.

The human figure gives an artist a subject that can communicate the rich experience of
humanity and organic form in a way we can all understand. The human body, like other organic
forms, constantly changes in concert with its surroundings. Forms representing the human figure
can provide the artist with a subject conveying symmetry and balance. But by visually
contradicting such order, an artist can make a work seem uncomfortable or uneasy to look at.
The unknown artist who carved the work Vesperbild in the fourteenth century expresses the agony
of death and grief by making the bodies of Jesus and Marv irregular, awkward, and distorted. The
suffering of torture is made shocking by the disjointedness of the lifeless Jesus. Stiffly angular, he
is stretched across the lap of his mother Mary. Prickly thorns, gushing wounds, and crumpled
drapery give texture to pain and anguish. The disproportionate size of Mary's twisted face makes
her unbearable sorrow all the more inescapable.

Form in Relief and

in the Round

An artist who works with three-dimensional form can choose to create a work in relief or
in the round. A relief is a work in which forms project from a flat surface. It is designed to be
viewed from one side only. A form in the round can be seen from all sides.

Forms in relief combine aspects of two dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
Like a two-dimensional work, a relief can be mounted on a wall or other surface. Although relief
may appear to limit the work's potential visual impact, in fact the sculptor can create the illusion
of a three-dimensional space, with dramatic results.
 In the relief sculptures on the south facade of the Ara Pacis (Latin for Altar of Peace) in
Rome, Italy, a sculptor chose to fit many figures into a limited space (1.34). The unknown artist
uses the depth of the carvings to suggest that some areas of the composition are further away
from us than others. The figures in the foreground are deeply carved (in high relief) so that the
folds in their togas are strongly delineated bv shadows. But the artist wanted to imply a large
crowd rather than just a line of people. The figures behind those in the foreground are also carved
in relief, but not quite so deeply. They appear to be further away because there is less shadow
defining their shape. The artist suggests even greater depth by using a third group of figures who
are carved in shallow relief, so that there is no shadow at all to make them standout. This effect
is clear in the upper left-hand corner, where the carving overlaps and diminishes in height.

Volume

Three-dimensional objects necessarily have volume. Volume is the amount of space

occupied by an object. Solid objects have volume; so, do objects that enclose an empty space.
Mass, by contrast, suggests that something is solid and occupies space (1.36). Architectural
forms usually enclose a volume of interior space to be used for living or working. For example,
some hotel interiors feature a large, open atrium that becomes the focal point of the lobby. Some
sculptures accentuate weight and solidity rather than openness. Such works have very few open
spaces that we can see. The presence of mass suggests weight, gravity, a connection to the
earth. The absence of mass suggests lightness, airiness, flight. Asymmetrical masses—or
masses that cannot be equally divided on a central axis—can suggest dynamism, movement,
change.

Open Volume

When artists enclose a space with materials that are not completely solid, they create an
open volume. In Ghost writer, Ralph Helmick (b. 1952) and Stuart Schechter (b. 1958) use
carefully suspended pieces of metal to make an open volume that, when looked at as a whole,
creates the image of a large human head(1.37a and 1.37b).The small metal pieces, which
represent letters of the alphabet and other objects, are organized so that they delineate the shape
of the head but do not enclose the space. In the stairwell where the piece hangs, the empty space
and the "head” are not distinct or separate, but the shape is nonetheless implied.

Open volume can make a work feel light. In the Blue, a collaborative work by American
sculptors Carol Mickett (b. 1952) and Robert Stackhouse (b. 1942), was created to imply the
presence of water (1.39). By creating negative space (the openings between the wooden slats)
with crowds of horizontal members, the artists make the work seem to float. Mickett and
Stackhouse also curve the pieces and place them at irregular intervals to create many subtle
changes in direction. This arrangement gives a feeling of motion like the gentle ripples of flowing
water. The artists hope that viewers will experience a feeling of being surrounded by water as
they walk through the passage.

Mass

Mass suggests that a volume is solid and occupies space. Even-substance has mass. Our
perception of mass influences how we react to and what we feel about that substance (see
Gateway Box: Colossal Olmec Heads,1.40). We can feel the weight of a pebble in the palm of our
hand, or the heaviness of a chair as we pull it away from a table. Our perception of mass in large
objects is derived from our imagination, our previous experience with smaller objects, and our
understanding of the forces of nature. Artists tap into these various intuitions when they create a
work of art.

Mass can suggest weight in a three-dimensional object. Some artists imply mass (without
it necessarily being there) to give us the impression that the object we are looking at is very heavy.
In movies, special-effect artists use boulders made of foam to give the impression of great weight.
Mass does not necessarily imply heaviness, only that a volume is solid and occupies space.

Texture

Any three-dimensional object that can be touch and felt has texture, the tactile we
experience when we physically encounter a three-dimensional form. Textures vary, from the slick
cold surface of a finely finished metal object, to the rough-hewn splintery character of a broken
branch, to the pebbly surface of a rocky beach.

When you hold this book in your hands, you feel the surface of the pages and feel its
weight. We mostly rely on the impressions we receive from our hands when we think of texture,
and these tactile experiences influence the way we look at art.

Even if we do not touch three-dimensional works of art, we can still think of them as having
"actual texture." We know what polished stone feels like (cool and smooth), so when we look at
a highly polished marble sculpture, we can imagine how its texture feels, based on our past
experience. Our experience of it will be different, though, if we look at a picture of it in a book or
if we stand next to it in the same room.

Subversive Texture

A subversive texture contradicts our previous tactile experience. Some types of cactus
appear to have a soft, furry covering, but touching them will be painful. Artists and designers use
the contradictions and contrasts of subversive texture to invite viewers to reconsider their
preconceptions about the world around them.

In the early twentieth century, artists calling themselves Surrealists created work that drew
on ideas and images from dreams and the unconscious mind. The Swiss Surrealist Meret
Oppenheim (1913-85) used texture to contradict the conscious logical experiences of viewers. In
her sculpture Object Oppenheim takes a cup, saucer, and spoon, normally hard and cool to the
touch, and instead makes them soft and furry. The idea of sipping tea from this object conjures
up an unexpected sensation of fur tickling our lips. The artist is counting on our tactile memory to
conflict with the actual experience of sipping tea from a shiny teacup. In this case, the form is
recognizable, but the associated experience is not.

Conclusion

We see a three-dimensional work of art in term: of its height, width, and depth. The term
form is used to describe any three-dimensional work. Three-dimensional forms can be geometric
or organic. They also have volume (the amount of space occupied by the form) and mass (the
impression that the volume is solid and occupies space). The surface of the form can be described
In terms of its texture. Artists can use the language of three-dimensional art to express many
ideas and emotions. Meret Oppenheim playfully tests our assumptions about everyday objects
with a furry teacup and saucer. On a much larger scale, the creators of the Colossal Olmec Heads
express the power of their rulers or ancestors, while the fourteenth-century sculptor of Vesperbild
communicates the terrible sorrow of Mary as she holds the lifeless form of Jesus.

Activity/Assessment

Criticize any three dimensional work of art of your choice using the principles learned in
this lesson.