Reviewing Methods and Materials - Wood...

Reviewing Methods and Materials…

Three-dimensional works of art, design and craft:

Art, design and craft in wood:

Wood.

Students can begin to consider the advantages of using woodworking techniques in order to represent observations, ideas and emotions, or create decorative or functional works of design or craft.

Display environment, scale, supports:

Is the wooden art, design or craft work displayed outside or inside an architectural structure? Describe the location.

The scale of a piece of wood art, design or craft work can influence the viewer’s perceptions. Describe the size and scale of the wood art, design or craft work.

Describe the lighting environment in the exhibition area, and describe any shadows cast by the wood art, design or craft work or sections of the wood art, design or craft work. How do these shadows influence the viewer’s perceptions of the wood art, design or craft work? Can the viewer notice specific reflections cast by the wood art, design or craft work? Do these reflections influence the viewer’s perceptions?

Has the exhibitor produced a wood relief work that projects from a wall or another vertical structure? Is the work resting against a wall, a vertical backing board or an item of furniture? Is the item a low relief wood work with shallow projections or a high relief wood work where raised features project further away from the backing surface?

Has the exhibitor produced a free-standing wood art, design or craft work, so that the viewer can move around every section of the entire wood work?

Has the exhibitor created a small-scale, free-standing wood art, design or craft work? Has the small wood work been placed on a platform or plinth, or an item of furniture? Has the small wood work been placed in a wood display cabinet? If the small wood work is in a display cabinet, has the exhibition organiser used special support structures or lighting devices in order to present the work?

How high is the top surface of a platform or plinth or item of furniture used to present the wood art, design or craft work for display?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner created large free-standing wood art, design or craft work that can be placed on the ground or a low platform or plinth?

Does the use of a platform or plinth or an item of furniture for display purposes influence the way that the exhibition visitor views the wood art, design or craft work?

Has the exhibitor produced a free-standing wood art, design or craft work that is suspended from a ceiling or overhead structure? Is so, describe methods used to suspend the wood.

Has the exhibitor featured kinetic elements in the wood art, design or craft work? Describe these elements. Does the movement depend on natural forces, such as the wind, or has the exhibitor used a special mechanism in order to promote movement? Describe the movement of forms in the wood art, design or craft work.

Wood: works or art, or design or craft?

Is the exhibit a work of wood art? Why is this exhibit a work of art, rather than a work of design or a craft work? If this work is a unique visual representation, describe the visual representation and the visual composition used by the artist.

Is the exhibit a wood design work? Why is this exhibit a work of design, rather than an art work or a craft work? Has the designer produced a work in response to a specific design brief? Describe the design aims that guided the development of the exhibit. Describe the decorative or utilitarian purpose of the wood work. Has the development of the exhibit been associated with specific design traditions and practices?

Is the exhibit a work of wood craft? Why is this exhibit a craft work, rather than an art work or a work of design? Has the crafts practitioner produced a work that is part of a specific craft tradition? Describe the crafts technique that guided the development of the exhibit. Does the craft work serve a particular function? Describe the decorative or utilitarian purpose of the craft work.

Wood techniques:

Describe the types of wood used for the final wood art, design or craft work.

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner manipulated wood by using hand tools? Has electrically-powered equipment been used to create the wood work? Has the exhibitor used a wood lathe and wood turning techniques to create the exhibit?

How has the artist used wood cutting or carving techniques in order to produce the wood art, design or craft work? Can the viewer detect the marks of tools or other implements on the surface of the wood? Does the wood feature smooth areas or fine detail or heavily textured areas? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the wood work. How many holes have been left in the wood work in order to create positive or negative shapes or spaces? Are the positive shapes more prominent than the negative shapes or spaces? Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing colours or wood grains and markings visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours or wood stains, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the wood surface? If the exhibitor has used wood burning or heated poker work to change the surface of the wooden exhibit, describe the sections of the work where burning techniques have been used? If natural wood grains and markings have been left as a feature, describe the visual impact of these sections. Does the wood feature a matte or a gloss surface? If varnishes or waxes have been applied to the wooden surface of an exhibit, describe the ways that the exhibitor has used these materials.

Has the wood art, design or craft work been created through the use of assemblage techniques? If several pieces of wood have been joined together, describe the techniques that have been used to achieve the final form. Have dovetail joins, wooden pegs or metal nails or screws and hinges, or glues, or even a combination of these elements been used? Have the assembled wood elements been placed together on a base or a ground surface? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the wood. Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing surface colours visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the wood surface? If the exhibitor has used wood burning or heated poker work to change the surface of the wooden exhibit, describe the sections of the work where burning techniques have been used? If natural wood grains and markings have been left as a feature, describe the visual impact of these sections. Does the wood feature a matte or gloss or a reflective surface? If varnishes or waxes have been applied to the wooden surface of an exhibit, describe the ways that the exhibitor has used these materials.

Subject matter:

Has the exhibitor used three-dimensional wood techniques in order to produce realistic representations? Describe the representations.

Has the exhibitor used three-dimensional wood techniques in order to produce an abstracted representation? Describe the representations.

If the exhibitor has produced three-dimensional sculptural pattern forms, describe the placement and scale of the pattern lines or shapes, as well as any distinctive optical effects.