Materials, technique and the form of an art piece
In the section CONTENT AND THEME OF A WORK OF ART we came to the conclusion that the form of an art work is affected by the social relations at the time when and in the place where it was created, the religion, the contemporary knowledge about the world and about nature, etc. But to understand all the differences in the appearence of the form of a work of art knowing this isn't enough yet. Every architectural work of art, a sculpture, painting or product used daily is made out of a certain material. A building can be made out of wood, stones, bricks or concrete; to make a sculpture wood, marble, sandstone and bronze can be used; a painting can be painted on plaster, a board, a cloth or paper and to make it you can either use wax, oil, aquarel, acryl or distemper (tempera) paint. With all of the used materials a different treatment and method of using are necessary.
In the different epochs when art was developing at the same time various materials were used and the right techniques of production with them (eg. in ancient Greece big, heavy sculptures were made out of marble, smaller ones out of clay). It often happened that a new epoch brought new raw materials and with them different treatment. This influenced new forms of works of art as much as the social relations did. The following example wil prove the extent to which materials and techniques affect the form of an art piece.
The cathedral in Chartres, 1194 - 1260
On the illustration you can see the cathedral in Chartres (a symbol of French Gothic) built in the years 1194 - 1260. Such a high and complicated building could be made only with the use of bricks and mortar. Try imagining the same cathedral, but then built with stones. That seems impossible... From raw materials such as stones or wood churches, palaces and other buildings were built in the earlier centuries and their shapes were different. Stoned buildings naturally simplify shapes, while the use of wood is connected with other restrictions, in size for example.
WORK OF ART |
CONTENT AND THEME |
MEANS OF EXPRESSION |
ARTIST AND AUDIENCE |
CREATION PROCESS |
HOW TO UNDERSTAND A WORK OF ART 1998