Overview:
Three Dimensional Design seeks to expand your understanding of design theory as it relates to the 3 dimensional world. Working primarily in paper, bristol board, corregated board and fome core, we will explore concepts of modularity, sequence and series, relief, contour, structure and symmetry.
We will examine the function of space, volume, mass, plane, and line. Sculptural issues will be explored through the solution of design problems. The main emphasis of this course is the development of critical thinking skills as they apply to three dimensional art forms and to help you gain a deeper understanding of visual art.
This is a working studio course. Regular attendance is expected.
This is an A level course and is part of the general education program, "Invitation to Insight" and it fulfils the fine arts requirement. As such, the goals of the class as well as those stated above are to encourage you in:
• Creative thinking
• Informed engagement of works of art
• Developing your vocabulary in art to be able to articulate visual ideas more fully.
• Articulating how the ideas in this course illuminate understanding of all three dimensional art including Sculpture, Ceramics, Installation Art and Architecture
Topics to be covered include:
Bristol board... scoring, cutting, joining, etc.
Relief designs in mat board and Fome Core board
Extended relief using radial symmetries
The Platonic Solids
Archimedian solids
Stellated solids
Serial planes
Large triangulated structures using newspaper struts.
Curvilinear/hyperparabolic forms
Applicator stick structures
"The chief reason for studying regular polyhedra is still the same as in the time of the Pythagoreans, namely, that their symmetrical shapes appeal to one's artistic sense." ---H.S.M. Coxeter
List of Projects:
Week 1, 2
Layout and glue up each of the Platonic Solids and 2-3 Archimedian solids.
The Golden Ration... the Pentagram
The number 9, Sound and Platonic Solids
Week 3-4
Construct a 12 – 16 unit sculpture using one or more of the forms above.
Week 5-6
Bristol board high relief, modular grid of curvilinear, asymmetrical forms arranged in a close packed 16 - 25-unit grid on 16" X 16" mat board.
Week 7
Bristol board parallel cut hyperparabolic and organic form(s). 2 –3 pieces.
Week 8
Curvilinear, wire screen, symmetrical, modular construction.
Weeks 9 - 10
Serial Planes.... the folded book
Spherical,
serial plane video
Origamic
Architectureof Masahiro Chatani
Weeks 11-12
Applicator Stick/bond paper triangulated structure. Large
outdoor dome project, Buckyballs/Fullerenes
Photos of Buckyballs
Weeks 13-14
Colums and Towers
Week 15
Finish up work, photograph work
Academic Expectations: Attend all classes, care about your
work, make progress in the medium, help and cooperate with your classmates,
take risks, make mistakes. Your grade will be based on the care you bring
to your work and the successful completion of each assignment. As this is
a workshop class, good attendance is assumed. Attendence is crucial. A maximum
of 3 absences is allowed.
Materials: The instructor will provide the materials for
this class, thus a lab fee of $50 is assessed to cover the costs of the materials
used in the class.
You will be using:
Bristol Board, 22" X 28"
Duco Cement, glue gun
compass
mat board
metal straight edge, pencil
X-acto knife or utility knife
Applicator Sticks
Books to fold
EMT tubing
Clay
Tradition of Honor: As a member of the Albertus Magnus College Community, each student taking this course agrees to uphold the principles of honor set forth by this community, to defend these principles against abuse or misuse and to abide by the regulations of the College. To this end, every student must write and sign the following statement at the end of each examination: "I declare the Honor Pledge."
Special Needs and Accommodations: Please advise the instructor
of any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester or mod.
Those students seeking accommodation based on disabilities should provide
a Faculty Contact Sheet obtained through the Academic Development Center in
Aquinas Hall, (203) 773-8590.
Suggested Reading:
Wucius Wong, Principles of Three Dimensional Design
-
Designing with the Computer
Zeier, Paper Constructions
Stevens, Peter, Structure in Nature is a Strategy for Design
-Patterns in Nature
Fuller, Buckminster, Synergetics, Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking
Critchlow, Keith, Order in Space
The Golden Section Discussion of historical references in ancient Greece.Timaeus, Plato, 360 BC, Online at MIT
Discussion of Timaeus, Plato's "theory of everything", Platonic solids, Euclid, etc at Mathpages.com
Polyhedra
and Art, an excellent site by George Hart, Professor at SUNY Stonybrook
"Through history, polyhedra have been closely associated with the
world of art. The peak of this relationship was certainly in the Renaissance."
The quadrivium—the classical curriculum—comprises the four liberal arts of number, geometry, music, and cosmology. It was studied from antiquity to the Renaissance as a way of glimpsing the nature of reality. Geometry is number in space; music is number in time; and comology expresses number in space and time. Number, music, and geometry are metaphysical truths: life across the universe investigates them; they foreshadow the physical sciences.
Bird
Alabaster 10" X 4" Student work
from 3-D Course
The Folded Book
Student Work
Weeks 9 - 10
