<aside> đź“Ś FOCUS: Since the development of modern art, artists have widely explored abstraction as an expressive device. The explorations ranged from geometric to expressionistic abstraction. This innovative approach to representation brought about new energies and dimensions in artistic creation, stretching the definition of art. Understanding the concepts underlying abstract representation provides students with the accessibility to many modern and contemporary artworks.
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<aside> 👉 Students gain an appreciation of abstract representation and are able to critically evaluate such artworks in an informed manner.
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<aside> 🦚 Brancusi’s exploration of pure form in his abstract sculptures created new paradigms with which sculpture could be engaged. Teachers may use sculptures by Donald Judd and Han Sai Por for comparison.
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(1876 – 1957) Romanian - essence vs form
<aside> 💦 to understand the world of art and spirituality (he sees art as religion, dripping is like a ceremony) the act of dripping brings him closer to art. FIRST OF THE MODERN SCULPTORS. → departs from representational accuracy
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<aside> 🤌🏼 Define sculpture in the new age, they used to only consider sculpture as something that represent reality
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Brancusiʻs philosophy: To differentiate the essential from the ephemeral (the transience and short-living).
He had an intense love for craftsmanship - a talented handyman who made his furniture and utensils
“Art for Art saketh” there is no reason behind it
Abstraction is realistic because it reveals the essence, it does not lie to you but informs you more about the work → non naturalistic (abstract) → “realism” = ideal→ His work in physical form it is not ideal, he changes the form
Wants to find his own identity: “Nothing grows under the shadow of a big tree”, he does not want to follow to footsteps of his teacher Rodin
Influences from different cultures, medieval, primitive, Tahiti, Assyrian, African tribes, folklore, African & Oriental art (prehistoric art - cycladic sculptures that were used for rituals and religion)
His values taken from the writings of Plato (Greek), Lao Tze (Chinese) and Jetsun Milarepa (Tibetan).
Roman mythology → Maistra & Prometheus in Head series
AUGUSTE RODIN→ a naturalist, less concerned with monumental expression than with character and emotion → he departed from centuries of tradition (turned away from the idealism of the Greeks, and the decorative beauty of the Baroque and neo-Baroque movements.)
→ Brancusi rejected Rodin’s 19th century emphasis on theatricality and accumulation of detail in favour of radical simplification and abbrieviation
→ Brancusi suppressed all decoration and explicit narrative referents in an effort to create pure and resonant forms
→ his goal was to capture the essence of his subjects and render them visible with minimal formal means
literally translate to wild beasts → strong, primitive, not modern. He was fascinated with the formal simplicity of primitive carvings. Had his own ideas about sculpture, focused on creating the perfect form.
use of biomorphic forms and integration of is sculptures with their bases
pared down aesthetic, reduced forms of his sculptors
(1) Carved and modelled exquisitely refined forms:
(2) A series of rough, tough sculptures:
Essence and form can be played around with, there is no absolute essence. If you change the form of water, the essence stays the same. If you change the essence of water to alkali, the form remains the same.
His goal was to capture the essence of his subjects, which included birds in flight, fish, penguins, and a kissing couple and render them visible with minimal formal means. He would simplify his forms into geometric or sparse objects.
Brancusi was fascinated by animals, and believed in the primacy of animal consciousness. In reducing animals to elemental shapes, he felt he was approaching the essence of nature.
Why does he always provide a base for his sculpture?
Look at the way he assemble his works, there is a certain physics required to balance his artwork
“Beauty is absolute balance” → symmetry / asymmetry balance in the form, composition, color
Plays with primitivism and modernism at the same time. The primitivity of the art of sculpting, the folklore and subject matters, and the modernism in abstract art, simplicity and aesthetics. Primitivity itself is also naive in a simplistic way.
To make something look simple is the hardest thing of all. To get a cruciform just right, to get the balance of an oval just right, to get the soaring, abstracted concept of a bird right, to get that sense of grace, that sense of balance, is really the work of extreme skill. Requires physical strength (polishing, carving because there is density in the materials)
Direct cutting / Carving → Subtractive/ Reduction is when you start a large piece and take away material until the desired shape is finished. Brancusi used the subtractive process to sculpt, carve and cast → helps him understand the material very well
Addition → Metal with wood, Bronze with metal, he combines some materials together in his artwork
Casting → He uses clay and plaster to make a mould for his material such as bronze / metal / iron that is able to be liquified
Why does he insist to polish?
To bring out the simplicity, formal elements and aesthetics of the material.
Abstraction (analysis) → loss of details, yet keeping the overall representational figure that's essential in defining a bird
Folklore as an abstract concept → simplification of bird allows us to view birds in a different form / with different meaning because there is multiplicity in assigning meanings to a form → folklore / spirituality / strength (elevated posture)
At the same time, he placed these polished shapes on roughly carved stone pedestals, or on bases hacked out of tree trunks, in order to attain a mystical fusion of disembodied light-reflecting surfaces and solid, earthbound mass.
Polish goes together with the reduction, brings a certain essence to his subject matter in some works → Bird in space, like a bird that is flying/fleeting, the smoothness and movement is reflected through the glimmer of the polished work.
What we see:
Form has curvatures and indentations, creating shadow casts / highlights / tones which in turn creates volume and form, 3D (not flat)
Interpretation:
Techniques of casting and polishing → reproduction / creation of a newborn. Shadow cast can be a metaphor of the cast of human existence → creation after creation
Captured figuratively, the shape resembles a newborn being wrapped
Casting → it is reproducible, can be made many times with 1 mould
Carving → made from the scratch, indispensable, uniqueness in the quality, individuality, cannot be reproduced exactly, can only be made once → in the essence of a baby
Donʻt essentialize, donʻt just say
“The Newborn in marble is white, which represents purity. The end.” No!
Elaborate: Give justice to the material, talk about how Brancusi uses the material of marble to bring out the color of white, unlike most marbles which contains different textures and colors (veins),
Brancusi specifically chose pure white marble to portray The Newborn.
Tangible: A womanʻs curves
Intangible: Feminism
He uses this artwork to talk about the essence of what it means to be male and female.
(b. 1943) Singaporean - nature, life, vitality
<aside> 🌴 “All my art creations are about nature. They are inspired by the tropical rainforest, which surrounded me when I grew up in a kampong in Changi”
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