New technological advanced materials and equipment
Why do you think Michelangelo chose to sculpt his Moses (2.4.8) from marble, or Marcel Duchamp decided to appropriate a urinal (3.10.1) in order to declare it a work of art? Look carefully at the materials used by the artists and their unique qualities—the durability of stone, the shininess of the ceramic glaze—and try to see what associations the artist may have had in mind when they chose the material or process. Would Michelangelo’s work be as effective were it made from clay? How would that change the work?
Discussion Response to — 100 words
Drawing is often the first expression of an artist’s idea and because of that, I believe that initial sketches or doodles could hold more insight into an idea in its pure state than a final piece can do. This often has to do with the fact that artists will tend to insert many different feelings and ideas within original designs, only deciding to trim it down to allow a more streamlined concept. Essentially, you could envision these sketches and other initial ideas as the same concept as brainstorming when writing or designing something. In the early stages, you often jot down as many different concepts as possible before simplifying and trimming down exactly what you want later down the road. However, these initial ideas can give plenty of insight to what an artist was thinking of at the time of design. Some of these feelings during the trimming are lost in the final project and will more than likely, never be seen by the general public. But, within each of those sketches, there is likely to be a lot of unrevealed feelings and secrets that the artist may have chose to not include in the final piece.
By brainstorming and designing original sketches and doodles, Artists have an ability to choose to express anything and everything freely, without interpretation from anyone else. Final projects will be expected to be projected to a larger population and thus, artists will often wish to portray a specific expression to try and get from their viewers. Sometimes, however, in cases like Raphael’s The School of Athens, drawings before the final project are used and then just refined in the final piece with little alteration other than to streamline everything together to create a much more polished final product. Regardless, original designs have a very important role in the design process and help to portray more insight into the mind of the artist than the final product.
The 20-century Modernist architecture that I chose to focus on was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. I thought this would be a great opportunity to further learn about the great architecture that is located in my current nearest city. The Gateway Arch takes on the architectural form of Modernist/Structural Expressionism. It is a monument that is made out of stainless steel and is still the world’s tallest freestanding arch and the tallest man-made monument in the United States. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947 and construction was completed in the mid-1960’s. Modern architecture was an architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and concrete. New technological advanced materials and equipment influenced the , which is made up of stainless steel and glass for the windows. The construction of the Gateway Arch was influenced by modernized buildings that were created with the same materials. This gave the construction workers the ideas of what modern materials to use that will be efficient and sturdy in our modern times. This is a major advancement compared to the ancient Egyptians since they lacked the resources that we have today such as steel and glass. Furthermore, the Gateway Arch takes its name from the city’s role as the “Gateway to the West” during the westward expansion of the United States. The strong, elegant shape of the arch represents a door to the western part of the country. Therefore, the country’s expansion influenced the construction of the great piece of architecture in our Modern era, compared to The Great Pyramid of Giza being influenced by honoring the passing of their king.
Informational URL sources: https://interestingengineering.com/21-buildings-that-helped-shape-modern-architecture-from-1945-to-today
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gateway-Arch
