Notes for Chapter 6: Texture, Time, and Motion

A World of Art: Chapter 6 - Texture, Time, and Motion

Chapter Overview

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• Learning Objectives:
    - 6.1: Explain the difference between actual texture and visual texture.
    - 6.2: Outline some of the ways that time and motion inform our experience of visual art.

Introduction to Texture, Time, and Motion

• Phillip K. Smith III’s Work:
    - Title: Lucid Stead
    - Description: A homesteader's shack transformed using alternating bands of mirror and weathered siding.
    - Nighttime Effect: Use of LED lights to illuminate windows; cracks between bands reveal interior light.
    - Theme: Emphasizes the concepts of time and motion through visual transformation.

Texture in Art

• Definition of Texture:
    - Refers to a work's ability to evoke tactile sensations and feelings.
    - Can be characterized as:
      - Rough or smooth
      - Slimy or soft
    - Creates responses that may inspire touch or repulsion.
    - Museum Protocols: "Do Not Touch" signs are employed to preserve artwork integrity.

Actual Texture

• Examples of Actual Texture:
    - **Michelangelo’s *Pietà: Transforms marble into lifelike figures with gentle drapery.   - **Rodin’s *Orpheus and Eurydice: Contrasts smooth marble figures with a rough unfinished base representing the underworld.
    - Van Gogh’s View of the Sea at Scheveningen: Utilizes impasto technique to create three distinctive textures.

Visual Texture

• Definition of Visual Texture:
    - Appears to be actual texture but is essentially an illusion.
• Technique - Frottage:
    - Max Ernst’s The Horde: Created through laying paper over textured materials and rubbing with a pencil/crayon — producing varied textural effects.
• Photographic Example:
    - Ansel Adams’s Detail of Lichens, Glacier National Park: Captures smooth photographic texture despite depicting rough lichens.

Time and Motion in Art

• Primary Concepts:
    - Traditionally, plastic arts (painting, sculpture) are considered spatial, whereas written arts (music, literature) are temporal.
    - Time influences plastic arts through narrative structures.
    - Example of Movement in Sculpture: Alexander Calder’s Untitled, which showcases kinetic art.

Narratives in Art

• Comparison of Dynamic and Static Figures:
    - **Gianlorenzo Bernini’s *David: Represents a figure caught in action, contrasting the stillness of **Michelangelo’s *David.
• Story Told in Isidro Escamilla’s Virgin of Guadalupe:
    - Narrates the event of Juan Diego encountering the Virgin, culminating in a miraculous sign involving roses.

Seeing Over Time

• Monet’s Paintings:
    - Lily pond paintings uniquely compel viewer movement throughout the exhibition space.
    - The viewer experiences a sensation of “Brownian motion,” having no fixed place to rest their gaze.

The Illusion of Movement

• Op Art Characteristics:
    - Optical painting techniques manipulate formal elements, giving the sensation of movement.
    - Example: Bridget Riley’s Drift No. 2 presents visual waves on a flat surface despite being a static canvas.

The Creative Process in Action Painting

• Jackson Pollock's Approach:
    - His action paintings require viewer engagement with the expansive canvas.
    - Emphasis on the painting process rather than the finished artwork.
    - Imagined Engagement: Pollock’s gestures are described as being reminiscent of dance.
    - Working Method: Preference for painting on the floor to move freely around the canvas.

Time-Based Media in Contemporary Art

• Grace Ndiritu’s Still Life: White Textiles:
    - Features video performances inspired by Matisse, juxtaposing movement of printed fabric against the artist's body.
    - Explores themes of seduction and passivity through her depiction.
• Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler's Detached Building:
    - Characterized as a “long photograph” presented in a loop, allowing viewers to construct narratives at their own pace.

The Critical Process: Formal Elements in Video Art

• Bill Viola’s Room for St. John of the Cross:
    - Contains both a small monitor with a still video and a large projection of a shaky black-and-white video.
    - Accompanied by a subtle audio track, creating a multi-sensory experience for viewers.

Summary of Learning Objectives

• Review questions for self-assessment:
    - 6.1: Differentiate between actual and visual texture.
    - 6.2: Discuss how time and motion influence our perception and experience of visual art.