978-0205677207 Chapter 7

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Chapter Seven: Other Formal Elements

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

• Actual Texture

• Visual Texture

• Pattern

• Time and Motion

Works in Progress

Jackson Pollock’s No. 29

The Critical Process

Thinking about the Formal Elements: Bill Viola’s Room for St. John of the Cross

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

This Chapter Will:

• distinguish between actual and visual texture in art works

• describe how patterns are created by repeating previously learned visual

KEY TERMS

texture time and motion raking light

action painting pattern decoration

actual texture temporal media frottage

MyArtsLab RESOURCES

Closer Look: Michaelangelo, Pietà

LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. Michelangelo’s Pietá

Michelangelo’s famous Pietá at the Vatican (fig.160) (See the Closer Look on

MyArtsLab), completed in 1499 when he was only 24, is a masterwork that reveals the

artist’s love for his medium and his faith, and demonstrates the importance of texture as

an element of art. Point out to students that artists will often produce or suggest textures

in order to convey or further the notion of reality. The skill with which Michelangelo

carved the sculpture creates a work so realistic that the human forms appear to be warm

and fleshy, rather than cold and of stone. It has been described as “sublime perfection.”

2. Actual and Visual Texture

Texture is the actual or perceived surface of a work of art and it has the ability to call

forth certain visual responses and certain tactile sensations and feelings. Explain that

textures are described by adjectives such as smooth and rough, and are often

representative of the surfaces we encounter in our daily lives. Artists create visual

paper onto an actual texture, then rubbing over it with the soft lead of a pencil to achieve

the visual qualities of the surface. Have students create their own frottage experiments.

3. Pattern in Textiles

Historically, pattern has served as a decorative tool, however, some artists have created

works of art that incorporate pattern into the conceptual nature of the artwork. Pattern is

an element that can imply motion—we visually follow serpentine lines, or feel a

4. Femmage

Because decorative pattern is associated with the beautifying of utilitarian objects in the

crafts, with folk art, or with “women’s work” such as quilt making, it has not been

5. Monet’s Waterlilies

Waterlilies, Morning: Willows (fig. 170) are displayed at Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris.

Make the distinction between the plastic arts, such as painting and sculpture, and the

written arts, such as music and literature. The plastic arts are spatial, meaning they are

6. Op Art

Some works of art are designed to deliberately move, while others attempt to give us the

sensation of movement. The term Op Art is coined from its ability to create this optical

CRITICAL THINKING: More Opportunities to Think about Art

1. Works in Progress: Jackson Pollock’s No. 29

The work of Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock is featured in the Works in Progress

section of Chapter 8 (pp. 172 & 173). His huge abstract action paintings brought him

tremendous acclaim. The large compositions cause the eye to travel in what one critic

2. Thinking about Bill Viola’s Room for St. John of the Cross

Chapter 7 ends with The Critical Process, an analysis of Bill Viola’s Room for St. John of

the Cross (figs. 179 & 180). This work demonstrates how time and motion in television

are very different from time and motion in video art. The work consists of a color

television monitor displaying a videotaped image of a snow-covered mountain. On the

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. The Time and Motion of Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock’s paintings were described by Pollock himself as “energy and

motion/made visible.” In an essay, have students compare and contrast Pollock’s work

2. Pollock: The Movie

Have students rent the highly acclaimed film of Pollock’s life at their local video store

HANDS-ON PROJECTS

For additional project ideas, remember to investigate the Hands-On Projects found on

MyArtsLab.

1. Cartoon Time

Have students use colored pencils and a fine-line marker to draw a comic strip of their

2. Frottage

Have students use crayons and paper to collect texture rubbings from 12 different

Other Suggested Websites:

Miriam Shapiro coined the term “femmage” to describe her works that use painting and

artists working in the United States. The site is comprehensive, with artists’ biographies,

links, video clips, slide shows, lesson plans, and other resources. Included artists, from

this chapter: Roni Horn, Teresa Hubbard, and Alexander Birchler.