Sculpture in the Round - Essay Example

On page 168 of our textbook, we can see an excellent example of a sculpture in the round. The “Obus”, a massive stone head from the 12th-10thth century B.C.E. Olmec. with a Basalt Height of 65”, this figure represents a complete three-dimensions and-alone lone form not attached to a flat background. The sculpture is round and viewable from several vantage points allowing the viewer a complete perspective of the statue.

The “Obus” is a fantastic example of the sculpture in the round because of the way that the free-standing sculpture allows one to create his or her own vision and meaning of what this particular sculpture means. To mean, it takes me back in time to an era when sculpting as an art form was in its artistic infancy. The sculpture has a raw look that boggles the human mind.

Cady Noland provided us with an extremely descriptive look at an installation art piece with her installation piece “This Piece Has Yet To Be Titled” from 1989 on page 173 of our book. Her work defines the parameters by which an installation is defined as artwork. It is installed at an exhibition site that used materials of physical features that already exist on-site in the art piece. Noland's piece is a modern artistic expression that the sculptor wished to convey by using modern materials such as beer cans and the like which comprise the whole of the structure including the American flag.

Student 1

You have a very easily understandable definition of a sculpture in the round. Indeed it is a free-standing art piece and the fact that you chose Obus as the accompanying physical definition shows that you have a deep and clear understanding of a sculpture in the round. By showing the little girl running under the artwork, you clearly define that an art form in the round is one that has to be viewed from many angles and is defined from each angle that we look at it from.

It is such a coincidence that we both chose to define an installation with the same art piece. Your unique connection between the location and the materials used clearly illustrate the definition of the word.

Student 2

Your definition of a sculpture in the round is a cut-a-paste job. The mere fact that you were able to define both the sculpture in the round and an installation in the same sentence proves that you did not take our lesson as seriously as you should have. Although you also chose to define Obus, you did not say anything that proves that you studied the art piece. You did not care to explain the three-dimensional aspect unique to the round sculpture. Did you even feel anything when you looked at “This Piece Does Not Have a Title Yet” by Noland? Your definition of both art forms is truly haphazard and in dire need of further definition, study, and understanding of the samples.