WP3: Prewrite 3

The piece of artwork, Superstructure on 4, is made of stainless steel. Not painted, the metalic sheen of the material gives the work a silvery appearance. Futhermore, visible only by reflected light (or very close inspection), the metal''s surface is brushed. The sunlight's reflections on Superstructure reveal the turbulant and apparently chaotic pattern which breaks from the very constructed and geometric sense of the works primary structure. Viewed with the sun to the sculpture's back, these patterns are very difficult to see. Viewed with the sun reflecting on it however, these patterns are very difficult to not see, especially on the larger planes of the box and "circles" atop it. Furthermore, the effect increasing with distance, the highlighting patterns appear to physically change the shapes of the surface, bending and rippling them, or even leave them more ambiguously as positive space.

Apart from the brushed surface, the object is ineed very constructed. All the elements consist of flat planes, the curved edges of the "circular" pieces being the most free-form aspect found. The pieces are welded together with enough for stability but because it is so minimal and of the same color, the welding goes largely unnoticed and was not intended as a focus of the work as some emphasizing the process might draw attention to. This constuction gives the work very high "craft", not appearing rough as some other pieces of modern art do (like Birth of Venus does intentionally).

The context of the work is on the small, south-facing, raised jut, outside, in the sculpture garden surrounding the Sheldon, on the UNL campus, in Lincoln. Even the Sheldon is free but being an outside sculpture, the works audience includes every passing person who happens to glance in its direction, although the majority of such an audience will be paying it little attention let alone giving it any depth of analysis. Through the context of being in a sculpture garden its purpose is that of sculpture and not simply for decoration as some works fall to.

WP3: Prewrite 2

First, my object (Superstructure on 4) is an outdoor piece of artwork. Its completely metal materiallity allows it to weather the weather without weathering (really any kind of weather whether it be rough or not). This also means that it is viewed from outside. It is located on a peninsula of the higher ground reaching into the cement valley path that travels along the side of the museum. Looked at from below emphasizes its height even more (which is already somewhere around 10 ft. already). It can also be viewed from far away, not being wrapped by walls like most indoor works. The other close viewpoint, and the one I used in my primary analyses and for my perceptual drawing project, is on the peninsula (north of the object). Sitting especially emphasizes the impact, but this point of view will often put the sun behind the object, making it more difficult to see. This is where the placard is viewed from so this view is atleast partly intential and what I will be considering the "front" for orientation purposes.

Superstructure on 4 is all metal (stainless steel if remembered correctly-will check) with a brushed pattern on it, most visible on the main box shape given its largest plane but only visible either very close or from the reflection of light, primarily from the sun. This is an interesting additional level of information that can easily escape inital analysis depending on the viewpoint. It's also particularly interesting given the very geometric and constructed nature of the object and then finding this more free-handed brushing on the surfaces.

Being geometric in nature, the number of elements stays fairly low, only 17 elements counting everything including the base (although 17 may seem like a fairly high number and it indeed adds to the objects overall complexity, each elements is very simple in itself). A visual hierarchy is also formed. The object can be split into four primary groups: the legs, the main box, and the two collections of a circular form and 4 strips atop the main box. The top portion, the box and the elements atop it, is given additional emphasis because of its activity density. The legs are four very thin and straight (vertically, a couple have L shapes) with only the connecting oval very low to break its very straight and unchanging nature. This creates the contrast that draws the audience to the very top portion which makes around a third of the total height if generous bounds are given.

The object also has visual unity. First this is done by materiallity, everything having the same color, texture, etc. Secondly, the predominance of the metal strips and the repeated circular shapes (ovals and a many-sided regular polygon on close inspection) mean that the geometric nature also creates unity in the object.

WP3: Prewrite 1

A large majority of my experience with art has come from this past school year. Being more interested in math/sciences, I hadn't taken any art classes in high-school. This year however, as a student in the pre-architecture program, not only have a been taking an online course the purpose of which is to learn how to analyze art and design but I have been taking the visual literacy courses that have had me working with colors, speculative drawing, analysis/composition, and perceptual drawing.

This experience has given me the ability to clearly analyze art-objects like the ones we have seen earlier and mine right now (as far modern-art can be analyzed clearly). It has worked out that my archictecture courses work complementary with this English course, both teaching analysis techniques I can apply to the other. With a better ability to analyze art rhetorically and technically I have also found a larger appreciation in modern art than I had before (although I still think a painted red dot shouldn't sell for thousands of dollars).

Performing an analysis on modern art can certainly be tricky, especially while trying to find a starting point, but without understanding of its technical elements, it is either impossible or largely arbitrary. Just as with our analyses of documentary photographs, I will likely approach any analysis (even though I'll be doing the second option for WP3) through the means of analyzing the elements first and then coalescing them into larger arguments.

I made my initially decision on my piece (Superstructure on 4) of artwork for WP3 because I thought it would make an excellent subject of a project for my perceptual drawing class (and it did) (I'll post the pictures of it up once I get them back as my multimedia element). Also I have a pretty easy idea about how to model it as well. I look forward to working with it (a bit apprehensively) for this project.