Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Students will endeavor to do the following:

• Develop creative ways to solve problems using a variety of strategies at the intermediate beginner level for making metal sculpture.
• Create personal works of sculpture, which demonstrate an intermediate beginners level of understanding of sculptural ideas, and the materials and techniques associated with metal sculpture including but not limited to: welding, cold connections, forming and finishing).
• 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 sculpture of the past and the present from different cultures to be able 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 metal sculpture.
• Continue developing self-critiquing skills to expand autonomous expression through metal 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 processes used for metal 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 metal.
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 metal sculpture.
7. Begin to develop personal work with an awareness of historical and contemporary artists working in sculpture.

• Make creative, appropriately crafted, challenging sculptural solutions to given provocations using metal working techniques at the intermediate beginning level.
• Demonstrate technical welding and metal forming procedures properly.
• Comprehend and apply analysis of sculptural ideas, techniques, terminology, and issues through participation in formal critiques and discussions using intermediate beginning level 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 with an emphasis on sculpture made with metal
• 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 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 etc, an element is chosen for its weighty quality, an object or material is
  used for it's olfactory impact, an object is chosen for its associative qualities etc.)

Materials and Techniques

• Gravity and the basic forces of tension and compression.
• Materials and meaning
• Physical activities used to alter and form metals (e.g. cut, bend, heat, carve, compress, stretch, twist, hammer, rust, corrode, etch, etc.)
• Physical ways of connecting metals together(e.g. butt, prop, lean, bind, stack, wrap, peg, nail, slot, weld, screw, rivet, add, tense, tie, pin,
  cantilever, balance, etc.)
• Types of sculptural processes which can be incorporated into metal sculpture (e.g cold and hot forging, repousse, casting, welding,
  soldering, brazing, cold connections such as rivet construction, chain making, hinging, linear armature construction, finishing techniques ,
  etc.)
• Use of various power tools(hand held grinders, bench grinder, chop saw, band saw, shears, etc)
• Safety and Environmental concerns of materials and techniques: 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 metal sculpture and sculpture in general
• 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.