The World Is Round
Or At the Very Least, Lumpy.
Everyone should learn at least a little about the arduous process of creating those monumental statues the public largely ignores. From the marvelous, Alice in Wonderland group in Central Park to Degas’ tiny ballerina, or even that pigeon-dung, covered, Rebel general at the courthouse, a massive crew and exhaustive labor are required to bring the artist’s idea to fruition. There are no shortcuts.
Even with the production of a small, table top work objet d'art, the time involved in bringing the inner vision into reality will never be recouped through a lucky selling of the piece for most artists. Flat (2D) is much easier, for not only is there an added dimension to consider, but most sculptures are free-standing so that the viewer can criticize them from a multitude of angles.
My goal in 3D? I just want to laugh every time I look at the things.
Blurring the Lines
Or at Least Making a Joke that Any Lines Exist
As in all other endeavors, artists want to make their own definitions to satisfy what 3D is supposed to convey. Then critics and galleries feel they have to add labels to those, once they become established. The truth is that very few new forms of art ever come into being; most are re-interpretations of what has gone before, as any Absurdist will rant. So it was that artists decided to incorporate just a little sculpture into their canvases. Bas Relief presents minimal projections from a flat surface; Intaglio sports carvings below the original surface (think opposite of Cameo); and how does one categorize those wonderful shadow box creations?
If you're not up on all the poser definitions that surround fine art, you really should download "Art Speaks: A Poser's Guide to the Gallery." (Click on the pink line above.)
3D: Referring to sculpture or three dimensional works taking height, width and depth into consideration and perhaps capable of being viewed from all sides and above. In Picasso's case, one must attempt to envision the 4th dimension of 'time'.
Explaining Patience
To a Rabid Bear
Okay, here's the real story. I joined a 'women's therapy group', because I'm an abuse survivor with PTSD, but I'm poor and our state doesn't pay for private counseling. The assignment was to cut pix from magazines and paste them inside a shoe box, trying to explain our illnesses for a future 'sickie' art exhibit. Being an over-achiever, I looked at two wine crates, all the clowns I'd picked up at yard sales (who knows why - maybe because they scare me) and the multitude of psychotropic drugs I had in store because each new doctor pushed whatever he was getting a kickback on (they're all in the Mason jar on top), and decided that pretty much said it all. The backdrop is a copy of an album cover designed by Phil Hartman for Fireside Theater. I thought the fact that his 'mentally ill' wife ended his life was poignant.
After explaining all this to the group, in detail, the therapist (who exhibits in several galleries, herself) said, "Why is it you don't think you can have a meaningful relationship with a man?" What!?!? Not being a masochist, I left the group.
“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”
Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini