Zooming with GROW: Building Blocks of Sculpture

And, here we are in the first week of June. How did this happen? Since our last blog post: Dallas got *really* cold, Spring Break happened, along with countless Zoom meetings. Time seemed to go both fast and slow at the same time (at least for me).

Happily, some of those Zoom meetings were with GROW friends! We had our first virtual field trip over Zoom on Friday, April 16. It was so fun to see each other after more than a year since our last tour together at the Nasher.

During our tours at the Nasher, we usually capture tons of photographs of the students. We didn't get any snapshots of our first virtual field trip, but I can assure you there were lots of smiles and thumbs up.  😀

For this virtual field trip, we talked about the Building Blocks of Sculpture. In other words, what are the visual tools that an artist uses when she or he creates a sculpture? These tools, or elements of art, include color, line, shape, form, texture, and space.

Which elements of art do you see in this artwork? What kinds of lines do you see? What colors do you notice?

Frank Stella, Diepholz II, 1982

This is an artwork by Frank Stella. He titled it Diepholz II. It’s part of a group of artworks called the Circuit series, named for cities throughout the world known for their famous car races. The Diepholz Airfield Circuit was a race in the town of Diepholz, Germany. How do the lines and colors remind us of a race track?

We imagined that we were racecar drivers driving on this track. We put on our helmets and driving gloves, and drove our cars around the twisty turns and along straight lines. Then, we designed our own super fast, super cool race cars using different lines and colors.

Next, we looked at this sculpture. What elements do you see?

Barbara Hepworth, Squares with Two Circles (Monolith), 1963 (cast 1964)

What shapes do you see? Where do you notice positive space and negative space? Hint: in this artwork, the solid parts are considered positive space. The circular openings and the area around the solid parts are considered negative space.

Barbara Hepworth, who created this sculpture, often included openings in her sculptures. These openings allow the environment around and behind the sculpture to become a part of the viewer's experience.

Hepworth liked to imagine the setting where she would like to see her sculptures. We sketched Squares with Two Circles (Monolith) and drew a new setting around the sculpture. Where do you think would be a great place for this sculpture?

Last, but certainly not least, which elements do you see in this artwork? What colors do you notice?

Martin Puryear, Night and Day, 1984

What type of line do you see? Make the shape of this sculpture with your arms. Does this line, or shape, remind you of anything?

The artist Martin Puryear carved this sculpture by hand. These photographs give us a close-up look of the sculpture's colors, form, and texture.

Puryear titled this sculpture Night and Day. How does the title connect with what you see? Can you think of more than one way that the title connects to the sculpture?

The sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and Martim Puryear are currently on view at the Nasher.  Below are instructions for reserving 4 FREE tickets to the Nasher. (Everyone over 12 years old is always free.) This promotion lasts through summer 2021.

Tickets must be reserved online in advance!

• Visit https://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/visit/plan-a-visit 
• Under Admission, click on Buy Tickets.
• Select your preferred date and time and click Confirm Selection.
• Under General Admission, indicate the number of visitors over 12 years old.
• Under 12 & Under, indicate the number of visitors ages 12 and younger.
• Enter FIELDTRIP in the promo code box.
• Click Add Tickets.
• Follow prompts to complete reservation.

We hope to see you soon!