Present Perimeter SHAPES IN ART AND DESIGN Part 2

Present Perimeter

SHAPES IN ART AND DESIGN

Part 2

I Lead in. Think of the answers to the questions:

A) Do you think machines can create works of art?

B) What can be good and bad about  using rules and systems in art and design?  Can a system make designer or artist free to experiment?

II Pronunciation focus. Look at the phonetic symbols [ʌ], [ju:].How do you pronounce them? Put the words in the list in the correct column based on the way you pronounce the underlined letters. Listen or watch and check.

Sculptures; structures; cube; unit; permutations; structures; unique; hundreds; producing

[ʌ]	[ju:]
butterfly	university

III Match the words in two columns that have similar meaning.

1	permutation	A	importance
2	basic	B	belief
3	heraldry	C	transformation
4	template	D	idea
5	challenge	E	pattern
6	assumption	F	be better
7	significance	G	primary
8	concept	H	question
9	exceed	I	family emblem design

IV Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

 In the mid-1960s, Sol LeWitt began making 1)______ he called structures, by focusing on the form of the 2)______ and using it as a basic unit to apply a system, or 3)______, to it. Like, in 1974, he made variations of incomplete 4)______ cubes, for which he investigated all of the possible permutations of a cube not being 5)______. He made a 6)______ showing all 122 of them, and built structures that he displayed on a gridded 7)______. Central to the development of minimal and conceptual art, LeWitt prioritised 8)______ processes over so-called expression and famously said, “The idea becomes a machine that makes the 9)______.” Triggered by an 10)______ in heraldry and how symbols are devised to represent families, Allan McCollum explored, in the late ‘80s, how many unique shapes could be created by the 11)______ of 90-degree arcs and straight 12)______. He cut combinations of the elements into hundreds of 13)______ templates and made drawings from them by hand. McCollum made thousands of these 14)______, but his system was capable of producing unique works up into the billions. Both of these artists employ 15)______ systems that challenge our assumptions about how art should be composed, generating artworks whose significance far exceeds the simple concepts that brought them to 16)______.

V Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 What artists used geometric forms in their work (find example in the video)? What forms did they use?

2 How did artists described in the video use forms?

3 What was the idea behind using machines that create shapes for conceptual artists?

4 Why did some artists create thousands of drawings of shapes?

 VI Watch the video. Put the sentences from the talk in order (1-9).

A.   Which was the beauty of the system, is that it could be any scale, any material, any process.

B.   I had these 10 forms cut out of steel, let’s rearrange them.

C.   It’s really any material.

D.   There are so many material possibilities.

E.    The reason I can come up with the concepts so quickly, is because the foundation was already done.

F.    So it really kind of frees you up to push different materials or try new things that you haven’t tried before.

G.   I think it’s important to have a framework, but you can also break your own rules, which I think is fun.

H.   Like, I can build on what I already did, and then there’s this constant thread through all the work.

I.      What’s great about it is, it gives you this foundational background where you can build on, like, on the fly.

VII Watch the part of the video. Say if the statements below are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false statements.

1 Present perimeter system gives designers many possibilities.

2 The system described in the video could be only small.

3 The designer uses shapes cut from paper.

4  The designer  doesn’t think it’s important to have a framework.

5 With the system of shapes the designer can build on  the fly.

6 You can tell that it’s this designer’s work because of the system.

 VIII Unscramble the sentences. Put the words in the sentences below in the correct order. 

 1) cube. / on / the / The / by / began / focusing / artist / form / sculptures / of / making / the

2) incomplete / made / artist / cubes / of / open / The / variations
3) becomes / idea / machine / the / that / a / The / makes / art.
4) represent / are / Heraldry / symbols / how / studies / to / devised / families.
5) be / Unique / lines. / and / of / straight / could / by / / shapes / the / 90-degree / combination / created / arcs
6) systems / art / use / be / how / about / that / ideas / should / challenge / composed. / rational / our / Artists
7) want / a / you / templates / cut / If / as / and / shapes / / experiment / to / a / out / collage. / you / with / can / collage, / make
8) shapes / With / things / try / tried / before. / that / you / can / haven’t / you / new
9) to / It’s / can / but / your / / rules. / a / you / framework, / break / own / important / have
10) the / work / it’s / my / You / because / that / can / system. / of / tell

IX OVER TO YOU. Watch the video and fill in the missing words. Follow the artist’s instructions and create a work of art using the present perimeter system. You can work in AutoCAD or download the template below and cut the shapes you want to rearrange. Bring it to class or post it to share with other students. Give a brief description of your work (give it a title, explain what concept it represents).

Your 1)______ is to create a work of art using in the present 2)______ system. The system includes one 3)______, three half hexagons, three 4)______, and three triangles. You can use any 5)______, process, or skill. Bonus points if you can make a piece of 6)______ using the system.