Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

There are no course prerequisites although Basic Design 117 is helpful. Emphasis will be on working from life models in various ways to create figure sculpture. The course utilizes professional nude models as the basis for student assignments. A sense of curiosity and a willingness to experiment are helpful.

Students will endeavor to do the following:

• Find and develop creative ways to solve problems for making figure sculpture using a variety of strategies at the intermediate beginner level
• Create personal works of sculpture, which demonstrate an intermediate beginner level of understanding of sculptural ideas, and the processes, materials, and techniques involved in figure sculpture
• Ask meaningful questions, identify ideas and issues, to actively participate in a critical dialogue about sculpture with others using intermediate beginning level vocabulary
• Understand, interpret, and enjoy figure sculpture of the past and the present from different cultures to continue developing a lifelong process of expanding knowledge on the diversity of perspectives of the human experience
• Develop a heightened awareness of the physical world, the nature of the relationship of human beings to it, and our impact on it via the experience of making figure sculpture
• Continue developing self-critiquing skills to expand autonomous expression through figure sculpture while recognizing the standards and definitions already established by both contemporary and historical works of art from different cultures.

1. Create sculptures that incorporate a variety of technical skills with an awareness of the inherent characteristics of different sculpture processes associated with figure sculpture.
2. Begin to generate ideas/concepts with an awareness of the intended content of the work produced.
3. Build upon current skill set with the intent of working towards technical proficiency with figure sculpture.
4. Develop safe studio practices in regards to the handling of tools, chemicals and machinery within a communal studio space.
5. Further expand and utilize the necessary vocabulary specific to sculpture when participating in class critiques and discussions.
6. Begin to assess and self-critique personal work to strategize creative solutions for figure sculpture.
7. Begin to develop personal work with an awareness of historical and contemporary artists working in figure sculpture.

• Make creative, appropriately crafted, challenging sculptural solutions to given provocations at the intermediate beginning level.
• Comprehend and apply analysis of sculptural ideas, techniques, terminology, and issues through participation in formal critiques and discussions using an intermediate beginning level of vocabulary.
• Develop conceptual ideas through the practice of creative research and preparatory studies (e.g. sketchbooks, journals, maquettes, models, writing assignments, presentations, technical practice tests, etc.).

Concepts, Ideas, and Issues Pertaining to the Creative Process

• Strategies for developing ideas (i.e. experiencing and playing with materials, imagining, dreaming, visualizing, symbolizing, writing, reading, researching, studying historical and cultural examples, sketching, collaborating, discussing)
• Strategies for problem solving towards concretion of ideas in sculptural form (i.e. sketches, plans, maquettes, test pieces, models)
• Perception and Art
• Form and Content
• Interpreting art

Historical and Cultural Contexts

• Concepts, theories, and issues addressed by various cultures and historical periods
• Concepts, theories, and issues addressed by contemporary sculptors from different cultures
• Relationships between form and content in works of art from different cultures and historical periods
• The roles of art and artists in different cultures
• Intercultural and “interhistorical” influences (e.g. the influence of cycladic and African art on western, modern sculpture)
   

Sculptural Forms and Perceptual Impact

• Visual/physical elements used to create sculptural form: point, line, plane, shape, form, marks, texture, shadow, light, value, color, space, sound, smell, weight, volume, mass, text, etc.
• Relationships of characteristics of visual/ physical elements to be considered (e.g. proportion, length, thickness, position, orientation, scale, weight, interrelationship of shapes, relative value and color, movement and stillness, quality of texture etc.)
• Strategies for manipulating visual/physical elements that is ways of thinking of composing with visual/physical elements (e.g. arrange, juxtapose, relate, contrast, group, balance, unify, repeat, edit, elaborate, classify, divide, increase, decrease, maximize, minimize, dissect, separate, align, vary, diversify, alternate, reduce, connect, etc.)
• The relationship between materials and their visual/ physical impact (i.e. a stick or string acts as a line, an indentation in a form is simultaneously perceived as a mark, a material is chosen for its shape and color, an element is chosen for its weighty quality, an object is chosen for its associative qualities etc.)

Materials and Techniques

• Gravity and the basic forces of tension and compression.
• Materials, their handling, and meaning
• Physical activities used to alter and form materials that can be used to create figure sculpture (e.g. slice, bend, carve, compress, stretch, twist, etch, impress, etc) (Suggested materials are clay, wax, concrete, foam, plaster, etc)
• Working with armatures
• Understanding the issues and processes involved in working with models
• Working with traditional and non traditional figure modeling tools
• Strategies for making a figure sculpture permanent (e.g. casting, firing, or direct modeling in plaster, wax, concrete, foam etc)
• Safety and Environmental concerns of materials and techniques associated with figure sculpture in a variety of media in particular as well as associated materials: proper disposal of waste, places where recycled material can be found, proper safety attire to be used when working with specific materials, health related concerns, sources of information on these subjects

Critical Analysis

• Purposes of criticism and analysis of artworks: deepen understanding, reflect on level of quality and possible improvements, heighten creative decision making by observing decisions made by others and oneself, establish and maintain high standards of achievement, ask questions, find new connections, create autonomy and creative confidence, create new problems to solve, discuss art with others to expose oneself to multiple perspectives etc.
• Vocabulary relevant to ideas, materials, and techniques pertaining to figure sculpture
• Application, interpretation, and redefinition of sculptural ideas, connection of historical and cultural contexts, personal expression and creative freedom
• Aspects of criticism: formal, conceptual, historical, cultural, experiential etc.