Compare and contrast the formal qualities of two of the six artworks in this post: Harrison Xinshi Tu’s calligraphic painting Asking the Heaven, Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton (the same artist who created the überorgan and more!), Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence (click here for a good video about Serra); Käthe Kollwitz’s woodcut Death of a Child 1925, Lucien Freud’s self portrait in oil, and Alexander Calder playing with one of his mobiles, without making value judgments about their content or subject matter. Consider the medium utilized and include references to at least three of the following: line quality, shape, mass/volume, space, texture and color. You might also consider that you’re looking at photographs of the original artworks online, and experience of the work in real, physical space could be a vastly different experience (ie. seeing the impression of the wood block on the paper or walking through Serra’s torqued spaces). Click on the images for larger versions.
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August 31, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Kristin Kroeze
Kathe Kollwitz’s woodcut Death of a Child 1925 and Lucien Freud’s self portrait in oil painting are similar in shape because they both portray very different forms of the human body. The tone of each are extremely different in that Kollwitz’s woodcut is portraying the death of a young child and has a dark color to it while Freud’s self portrait is bright and extremely detailed. The texture of these two pieces are also extremely different as Kollwitz’s is a wooden carving and Freud’s is an oil painting. They both give off very different looks and portray different tones through their texture and color.
August 31, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Emily Labutta
Comparing Asking the Heaven and Death of a Child, the two are similar in employing only black, and by its absence, white, in their art. For Death of a Child, this use of only black heightens the morbid and depressing scene portrayed. Death of a Child remarkably uses vertical lines on the face to convey sadness, while Asking the Heaven’s curvilinear lines convey caprice. Death of a Child achieves 3 dimmensional qualities by having the black positive space and the coffin be lighter, while Asking of Heaven accomplishes the same, though to a lesser degree, by having white strokes frames in the midst of the black strokes.
August 31, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Tanya Rymas
Harrison Xinshi Tu’s painting Asking the Heaven and Tim Hawkinson’s bird skeleton utilize completely different mediums: calligraphy/ink and fingernail clippings, respectively. The overall colors of both pieces are polar opposites, Tu’s being black and Hawkinson’s being white. However, there are similarities, such as the line quality in both pieces is similar in the curvature of the bird’s spine and the curve of Asking the Heaven. Also, because of this similarity, the overall shape of both is strikingly similar.
September 1, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Shane McGann
The fingernail bird skeleton done by Tim Hawkinson and the steel sequence done by Richard Serra are both great works of art, though they are very different pieces. They are both sculptures; however, their differences are obvious. The sheer size and mass of the steel sequence compared to the bird skeleton is the first thing that stands out, the steel sequence takes up significantly more space. Then you can notice the difference in line quality. The bird skeleton requires much more precise lines and more detail than the steel sequence, Hawkinson must pay careful attention to his lines and the spacing when he is constructing his skeleton, where as Serra is not as concerned with details of the same manner.
September 1, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Dan Wanee
Kollwitz’s woodcut “Death of a Child 1925″ and Freud’s oil painting “self portrait” can be compared and contrasted relatively easily, while both portray the face of a man. There is some use of line in Freud’s piece, but it is crucial to the woodcut medium and a central tool of “Death of a Child 1925.” The two works use color in effective, but very different ways. Freud uses the rich hues of oil painting to create complicated shadow effects and a strange sense of realism. Kollowitz, though using only black and white, darkens the forehead and eyes of the subject to create a burdened, mourning look. In a textural sense, Kollowitz’s work appears smooth, which puts one’s focus on the important contrast of black and white. The oil painting on the other hand, has bumps as well as spots that seem thicker and raised (like the hair). This is due to both the skill of Freud in his brushstrokes and use of color as well as the thickness of the paint itself.
September 1, 2010 at 4:16 pm
tanya kondratyuk
The piece Asking the Heaven and Richard Serra’s Sequence have very different styles and dimensions. The two artists use abstract art and space to convey a message. Both works have unique styles and dynamic patterns that shape the feeling behind the pieces. On the other hand, the manner in which Serra uses three dimensional shapes and space is different from the method used in Asking the Heaven. However, both pieces seem to represent strong emotions and bold statements.
September 1, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Cassandra Kranz
“Asking the Heaven” and Richard Serra’s “Sequence”, despite being different medium’s of art, and very similar in a lot of ways. They are both pieces of abstract art, making their shape, though it is fairly random, quite the same. They may be made of simple curves of steel or blots of paint, but they seem to protray a deep feeling. They seem to go on and on because they are so deep and rich in both the dark colors that they are made of, and the space that they take up. That is also an interesting thing to consider…the space that they use. “Sequence” literally takes up the entirety of a room, while “Asking the Heaven” only takes up the space of a canvas…and yet they both seem to be just as big and grand, and both protray a deep and beautiful emotion.
September 1, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Dylan Mooney
Hawkinson’s bird and Freud’s self-portrait both have unique artistic characteristics and formal qualities. First off, both pieces have very distinct line quality in that the bird skeleton is a physical, 3-d object, but freud’s self portrait also contains harsh lines, despite the fact that it is a 2-d painting. As i just noted the artworks differ in their space and volume, one being very real and “touchable”, and the other being more imaginatively abstract. Finally, both pieces evoke humanity and physical presence. One being an intimate styled painting of a human, the other being composed of a uniquely detachable and temporary body part, both brining out the “humanness” of the art world.
September 1, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Gabriel Ponton
The main difference between Freud’s self portrait and Serra’s torqued steel sequence is in the definition of the shapes. Freud uses highly contrasting color to define himself, seemingly avoiding fine lines. On the other hand, Serra’s abstract wall shapes are created by thin metal that is very defined. The texture of the art pieces also varies rather drastically between the two: Frued has very harsh and almost blotchy texture where as Serra’s torqued steel is very smooth and rather graceful. Each portraying a different emotion in a very strong sense.
September 1, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Rachel Wassink
Harrison Xinshi Tu’s “Asking the Heaven” painting and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton have many formal differences. Tu uses paint as his medium while Hawkinson uses fingernails. Since the medium is so different, the texture also appears different because “Asking the Heaven” has many different textures because of the main black part of the painting and the different shades in the background. The color of the two differ because the main color of the skeleton is white while the main color of “Asking the Heaven” is black. Although these two pieces of art have many differences, there are also similarities in regards to line quality and shape. Both the skeleton and the black part of the painting have similar shape and lines. Where the bird flexes its wings, the painting also increases in size there. The large black oval at the top of the painting resembles the head on the bird skeleton.
September 1, 2010 at 8:12 pm
tony vargyas
I am comparing and contrasting the “Death of a Child” and “Asking the Heavens”. These two painting are different in their line quality and texture of art, however both share commonalities in color. “Death of a Child” is a harsh, disturbing, woodcut piece that reflects death and destruction. On the other hand, “Asking the Heavens” appears to be very fluent and careless in it’s manner. Both artists use white and black as the predominant color scheme in their pieces of art, but I believe that Kollwitz had the intention of creating something uncomfortable for the audience to visualize. Kollwitz wanted to make the white stand out and set it in a black background, while Tu’s painting is very free-flow and easy to look at with a lighter background.
September 1, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Nathan Hodges
Im comparing and contrasting Tim Hawkinsons’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel sequence. Both the bird skeleton have a genius build to them. They were perfectly planned out and orchestrated in a magnificent way. They however are different in many ways including the size, material, and creator
September 1, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Kristin Kokubun
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence are two sculptures of different magnitude. The mass and volume of the two pieces are opposites. Serra’s Sequence takes up the space of an entire room while Hawkinson’s bird occupies little space and is made up of small fingernail clippings. The shape of the bird skeleton is fragile and intricate while the shape of the Sequence is strong and sturdy.
September 1, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Carolyn Ingermanson
Asking the Heaven and Death of a Child have similar black-and-white color schemes, but Asking the Heaven relies on soft, sinuous lines that gives the piece an organic quality, while Death of a Child has brittle, straight horizontal and vertical lines that feel stark, modern and inorganic. Asking the Heaven feels like a two-dimensional space—the focus is the upward movement of the curving line—while Death of a Child feels very three-dimensional, as the coffin seems to glow in the foreground while the man’s shadowed face recedes into darkness.
September 1, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Lucy Hull
Kathe Kollwitz’s “Death of a Child” and Lucien Freud’s self portrait are strikingly similar and dissimilar simultaneously. Kollwitz’s use of space is captivating, as she seems to take advantage of negative space in order to emphasize the mournful figure in the center of the piece. Meanwhile, Freud’s self portrait is quite the opposite in that his entire head and shoulders overtake the frame and almost leap out at the viewer. The texture of each is also very different in that Freud seems to utilize a fairly harsh, deliberate brush stroke while Kollwitz’s piece is effective due to minimal color and texture. The two are similar however in that each character seems to carry heavy emotional weight of some kind. Neither make eye contact with the viewer, but instead stare off into different directions seemingly deep in thought or sorrow.
September 1, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Jeremy Heuslein
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton
Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence
line quality, mass/volume, texture
Today, we are going to be looking at Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s “Sequence”. We will specifically dialogue about the art’s use of line, mass/volume, and texture. The differences between the two are dramatic — in Hawkinson’s piece, line is broken up by individual clippings on close inspection, but on the whole seems harmonious. Serra’s “Sequence” on the other hand, takes its line on a continuous loop, unbreaking. The mass/volume between the two is also poignantly different. While Serra’s is on the massive scales, taking cranes and ship-building equipment to even form it, the fingernails are fragile and can be brushed aside with one’s own hand — their thickness too does not measure up to Serra’s steel. Lastly, the texture. Again, Hawkinson’s is crag-esque, pointing out and sharp, and a little bit dirty (there is presence of dirt), but Serra’s is smooth, on the most part, with an even, measured texture woven throughout the industrial steel.
September 2, 2010 at 1:23 am
Jonathan Barbalas
Xinshi Tu’s “Asking the heaven” and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton are conveyed in entirely different mediums as one is a painting made with ink while the other is a 3D object made entirely from fingernail clippings. The calligraphy utilizes very fluid and long connected strokes, while the bird skeleton has some smooth curves, but there are lots of joints which causes the line to be less smooth and more jagged. However, in both paintings, the lines are not the same size, changing as you go elsewhere in the painting. Asking the heaven is also in black ink only which is similar to the bird skeleton which is only in the color of fingernail clippings, (there are slight shades of difference, but thats not so important). The texture of the two works of art would also be different as touching. Lastly, the shape of the calligraphy something or someone reaching up to a higher place, while the shape of the bird skeleton is just skeleton shaped.
September 2, 2010 at 1:40 pm
David Querfeld
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence are both sculptures that are vastly different from each other. First of all we can see that the bird skeleton is much smaller than the torqued steel. When we look at the shapes, we can see that the skeleton has sharper angles and is much more elaborate than the torqued steel’s figure eight. We can also observe that the colors–skeleton’s off-white and torqued steel’s black–and fragility of the two pieces are almost complete opposites.
September 2, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Kristen Brown
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence are both extremely striking to me. While they are very different in size and nature, they still have some similarities. Hawkinson’s bird is very small and fragile, while Serra’s Sequence can be walked through and experienced. Their color is also very different. The fingernail bird is white/cream, the color of a fingernail, while the Sequence is steel and black. Though composed of completely different colors, both sculptures convey a somewhat eery mood. Concerning shape, they both contain circles. The body of the bird is one big circle/sphere, and the Sequence is made up of giant circle shapes. I really like the creativity of both the sculptures.
September 2, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Clement Bilhorn
The fingernail skeleton and “Sequence” are interesting in that they’re both sculptures in that they occupy a 3-dimensional space, and yet the similarities end right about there. First, their material is fundamentally different (keratin and steel, respectively), and so it follows that their colors differ accordingly: the skeleton bears the pasty, translucent white of fingernails (understandably so), while “Sequence” is a simple metallic gray (so far as I can tell from the black-and-white photo). Second, whereas “Sequence” was clearly composed with its shape as a fundamental component of the piece, its unique, sweeping curvature carrying most of the piece’s presence, the skeleton’s shape is rigidly defined by the fact that it’s a replica of an extant form that already exists in nature. Similarly, and third, “Sequence” was made to be enormously huge and space-filling, giving that it’s an architectural piece meant to be walked through and observed from a variety of different locations. The skeleton, in contrast, is as small as the natural item after which it was modeled, going further to show that Hawkinson’s piece is more concerned with the accuracy and precision involved in its creation whereas Serra’s is concerned with the size and concept.
September 2, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Courtney Goll
In comparing Serra’s “Sequence” and Kollwitz’s “Death of a Child,” I find many similarities and differences in the line quality, the shape, the space, and the mass/volume. The “Sequence” physically is much more massive than the etched “Death,” and unlike “Death,” is completely curved and constantly rotating within its three dimensional space (instead of almost purely straight, parallel lines).
Both pieces of art are black and white, and they convey a very definite sense of space. In “Death of a Child,” the coffin is clearly an arms length away from the person holding it, and the structure “The Sequence” physically occupies a large area. However, while the “Sequence” has a smooth sense to it, “Death of a Child” has very white, sharp, abrupt lines that contrast with the pure black that represents the despair of loss.
September 2, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Jason Bhatta
I am comparing and contrasting Kathe Kollwitz and Serra’s works of art. First they are similiar because they are both three dimensional art pieces and are using the stark contrast of light vs dark. Kollwitz death of a child uses very harsh lines to make the contrast black vs white very evident and to create the image we see while Serra uses black vs white by using more fluid lines and you could even say no lines as his piece looks like it is a single line. Another stark contrast is that Serra’s piece takes up a considerable amount of space while Kollwitz is more compact.
September 2, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Alexandra Distler
Lucien Freud’s self-portrait holds an increasingly raving face the longer one looks at it. The emotions are raw, captured by oils all colored green or cream. The dissidence when one then looks at Alexander Calder playing with his mobile is striking. Calder is in his element, the black and white photograph depicts a man of happiness, joy, peace. While Calder is captured in a clean snapshot, Freud’s portrait is messy, almost chiseled. One can almost envision Freud painting himself, the maddened and taut strokes of the brush. It is like one is experiencing a hard life Freud may have had; the texture of his face rough like years passed by in despair. On the other hand, Calder has a flat texture, a quick still of the moment. In the same way, the line quality is vastly different: Freud’s thickening and thinning, dipping into the crevices of his hardened face; Calder’s lines are clean, easy ones. Indeed, the stark contrast between the painting and the photograph are very much present.
September 2, 2010 at 11:42 pm
megan mitchell
Self Portrait in oil and Death of a Child are both portraits and have similar compositions in that the faces are basically centralized and the main focus. The portraits are gone about very differently though. The oil painting shows now lines or contours but is all represented by varying values and sections of color, while Death of a Child is all made up of lines (of course, this is because it has to be as it is a wood carving). The volume of the self portrait is one of the most striking things about it. You feel like you could reach out and feel his shoulders, every in and out of his face, and the texture of his skin. In Death of a Child, on the other hand, the face looks as though it is fading into oblivion. It is phantom-like than a representation of a real person we would imagine to actually take up space and have mass. As well as the value versus line approach, the use of color also makes a huge difference in Self Portrait’s ability to seem more realistic, more human. The wood carving is more like a symbol, a striking design that represents a lot of emotion, but on very simple terms using only straight black and white, nothing in between.
September 4, 2010 at 1:56 am
Yaphet Tedla
Freud’s self portrait in oil and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton are great ones to compare and contrast. My view of traditional art would consider Freud’s work as being more skillful and i appreciate more than the other work. However, the uniqueness and the creativity of Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail is incredible. First of all for some one to consider it and then actually do it is beyond my understanding. Maybe that is art, the idea and the process it took to make it
September 4, 2010 at 9:10 am
Samantha McKean
Harrison Xinshi Tu’s Asking the Heaven and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton struck me as being similar in line quality and shape–after all, both works portray an upright figure. The line qualities are different, however, largely due to the different mediums used. Instead of thick, black brush strokes, the bird skeleton is a three-dimensional sculpture made of nail clippings. The shapes are similar because of their thin curves, and because of the oval shape of the head on each. The color used in each piece is also similar–both utilize a creamy off-white. The focus of Hawkinson’s work, however, becomes the black paint, while the cream color is only the background hue.
September 4, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Taylor Dalton
Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton are the two pieces of art that have similarities and differences. The color contrasts between the two of them. Sequence is portrayed as a dark, gloomy scene whereas the fingernail bird skeleton is portrayed against a white background, giving an almost positive feeling despite the fact that it is, in fact, fingernail clippings. Another obvious contrast is the difference in mass/volume. The Sequence having a huge mass and a huge volume compared to the minuscule volume of the bird. However, both have similar line characteristics: more following curved lines instead of straight, rigid lines.
September 4, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Ainsley McCullough
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and the torqued steel sequence by Richard Serra are similar in that they are both sculptures. Another similarity is that both artists decided not to use color when sculpting their art. The fingernail bird skeleton is very small whereas the torqued steel sequence is very large. Both sculptures are strange and have a slightly creepy mood. The texture of the fingernail bird is very “boney.” It does not have the smooth fluidity that the torqued steel sequence possesses. The torqued steel sequence is very curved. In contrast the fingernail bird skeleton projects in several different directions. The bird skeleton is less mysterious than the steel sequence because it is a recognizable figure. The steel sequence could have been inspired by any number of things.
September 5, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Korey Dalton
When I saw Richard Serra’s torqued steel sequence in class, I was immediately struck by its intensity and size. Although its weight must be hard to manage, I believe that Serra has crafted this piece to appear smooth in texture and form; its lines are fluid yet disorienting. This piece’s mass, volume, and shape add to this disorienting effect, as it can completely encompass the viewer. The video mentions that Serra was intriguied with his misinterpretation of a church which helped to inspire these pieces; I believe this inspiration is evident in its disorienting effect.
Its colors are simple, which seems to allow the viewer to focus on the lines, which seem to play tricks on the mind. The medium that Serra used could also confuse the mind, as we are accustomed to seeing steel and metal at right angles and not shaped in curves. In comparison to this,
Lucien Freud’s self portrait in oil seems more familiar to the artwork that we are accustomed to. Its mass is small and the canvas is in a shape that is very normal, unlike Sequence. Freud also uses more varied colors to depict himself than Richard Serra used. However, I think that the painting also has an intensity similar to Sequence. In different parts of the picture, some areas are thicker and more detailed in others, indicating what might be a glimpse of the emotions behind this self portrait. The texture seems very life-like and rich, adding to the intensity of this painting.
September 6, 2010 at 10:30 am
Yoshi Kozawa
The pieces Asking the Heaven, and the Self Portrait, both have very interesting form. Asking the Heaven, is a very smooth textured calligraphic painting, the colors used are very simple natural looking hues in the background and bold black ink which creates intensity in the paining, and Harrison Xinshi Tu has played with space with the use of negative space and aesthetically moving the brush to still fill a large area. The Self Portrait, by Lucien Freud is very different, and painted to have a very definite form, with sharply defined shoulders, despite being a two-dimensional piece, it has texture from the paint as well as texture created purposely for the hair and facial features, the color pallet consists of several values of skin tones, with his hair having the deepest value.
September 6, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Ryan Seager
Hawkinson’s fingernail bird sculpture and Serra’s torqued steel sequence share the creativity in the mind of a sculptor. They are both designed in such a way that creates a physical structure so we can touch and sense the depth of each object. The sharpness of Hawkinson’s bird contrasts the smooth flow of Serra’s steel sculpture. The two are very different, but they both reflect the mind of a true artist.
September 6, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Adam Mosbrucker
Käthe Kollwitz’s “Death of a child” impacted me when I saw it because the lines are so simple and straightforward yet bring out a very real and gripping image that seems to come alive. In contrast Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird is 3-D sculpture with a different style of using lines yet also comes across very real, even lifelike. I’m sure to if I were to see in these pieces of art in person it would really change the dimension and my understanding of the piece completely.
September 6, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Luke Van de Krol
When comparing and contrasting Harrison Xinshi Tu’s calligraphic painting, and Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton, there are many similarities and differences. The mediums are obviously different because one is an ordinary painting, and the other one is a unique structure made of fingernails. The line quality in both pieces utilize an arrangement of lengths to highlight certain aspects of the pieces. The shapes are also similar in the sense that they in themselves look the same, but are inverse images of each other. The volume and space, however, differ because one is two-dimensional and the other is three-dimensional. Because of this, space is created in the fingernail bird skeleton, creating volume, whereas in Asking the Heaven, the space is seen through what is left on the background.
September 6, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Garrett Cook
Tim Hawkinson’s bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torque steel sequence have obvious differences such as mass/volume and space. If you think about scale of these two pieces of art, they are on the opposite sides of the spectrum. Serra is using monstrous pieces of steel in a ship building factory, while Hawkinson is using something as small and delicate as a fingernail. However, I believe they also have similarities. Both have to pay close attention to shape. Although they are different sizes, the attention to detail on shape is immaculate on both pieces. Both present a tremendous challenge on keeping the shape consistent on such extreme ends of the scale (as far as size).
September 6, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Mary O'Hara
Harrison’s calligraphic painting Asking the Heaven and Lucien Freud’s self porptrait in oil are vastly different. When looking at each of the works, Asking the Heaven brings out the black while the pastel orangish pink only serves as a background; the self portrait of Lucien Freud’s uses the colors inversely allowing grey, white and black lines on his face to serve as clear accents. As far as lines are concerned. the lining in the Asking the Heaven shows more of a linear fashion with a curved lines that are symetrical with one another while the self portrait consists of several lines in different directions to show the wrinkles and strain on the man. In the Asking the Heaven, the texture shows to be more one dimensional versus the three dimenstional portrait.
September 6, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Matthew Wheatley
Asking the Heaven by Harrison Xinshi Tu and Richard Serra’s sculpture Sequence both have the same waviness in their shape. However, Sequence is much more definite in shape, while Asking the Heaven is much more meandering. The volume and space used by them are very different, though still similar, because Sequence is similar to a three-demential version of Asking the Heaven. They both are black on a white surface, or at least that is the way it appears in the black and white photograph of Sequence.
September 6, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Chris Bradley
Both “Death of a Child” and “Asking the Heavens” uses contrasting black and white colors to portray their paintings, but “Death of a Child” uses the black background to make the white jump out while the other uses a white background to make the black jump off the page. The line quality of “Asking the Heavens” is very blurred compared to the distinct lines shown in “Death of a Child.” Also the smoothness of the calligraphy art’s texture displayed in “Asking the Heavens” differs greatly from the rough texture that the woodcut carving of “Death of a Child” would have had in its original form.
September 6, 2010 at 11:50 pm
Josh Miller
To me, Lucien Freud’s self portrait stands out very strongly in contrast to Richard Serra’s sculpture in every way physical, the medium is different, the colors used are different, the line quality is completely different, and the texture is different. But in a very internal way, they are extremely similar. One is a self portrait of paint, and one is a massive steep plate, but they both change your perception of yourself and the world you live in. In the same way that Serra’s sculpture challenges those who enter into it by changing the way they perceive the world, Freud’s self portrait, a painting of a man colored by anger, regret and shame, challenges those who look upon it by forcing them to think, and to put themselves in his shoes. They both break people out of patterns of thinking, and force people to think in new ways about things they haven’t faced in themselves before.
September 7, 2010 at 12:03 am
Scott "Hutch" Hutcherson
Personally, I feel like i can compare the torqued steel sequence by Richard Serra with the Calder mobile. When I look at both of the works I see very similar shapes amongst them. The way the steel is shaped and the oddness of the mobile by Calder both appear similar. Although it appears in black and white, i believe that Calder’s mobile was brightly colored whereas the steel is probably either a dull grey or a shiny silver color. Finally, both appeal to your sense of depth even when looking at a 2d picture of them. The mobile appeals to your depth because you know how it should look and I expect it to jump off the page itself. The steel just has this certain element to it that makes it look like it is twisted within the picture itself.
September 7, 2010 at 12:32 am
Meghan Cuthbertson
There are both similarities and differences between Richard Serra’s “Sequence” and Harrison Xinshi Tu’s “Asking the Heaven”. As far as medium, the two works of art could not be more unlike. “Asking the Heaven” is a calligraphic painting, done in ink, and the lines are flowing, thick, and seem to go wherever they please. On the other hand, the lines of the torqued steel sculpture “Sequence” are thin, hard, and unmovable. But both pieces have the shape of beautiful spirals and loops, moving the viewer’s eye continuously along. Another difference is clearly mass and volume. The metal sculpture is huge, shrinking in comparison the people standing near it. The calligraphy is a two-dimensional work, and does not have the same overpowering effect as “Sequence”. Yet, regardless of the size, both artists used the space in a way that is visually appealing, with enough negative space to balance the composition.
September 7, 2010 at 12:59 am
Ben Meyer
The different mediums used in Lucien Freud’s self portrait and Käthe Kollwitz’s woodcut “Death of a Child” are important towards communicating unique messages. The woodcut allows for a much sharper image, where the contrast between what is white and what is dark is clearly apparent, while still allowing the figure to fade into the background. On the other hand, Freud’s work uses a greater variety of color and has a much softer and more complex texture, with fewer distinct and separating lines save the outline of his body. The woodcut uses only two colors and their shades to outline this figure, again adding to sharp contrast betweent he foreground and background, while the variety of colors ine Freud’s work create a smoother, more fluid feel. The texture of the two works is also much different, as the woodcut certainly has a sharper feel to the touch than would the oil painting. Finally, the woodcut does not quite convey as much mass, as the figure is seemingly one with the background, while Freud is clearly distinct from his surroundings and takes up a separate space within the work.
September 7, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Chris Erdos
What amazes me about some of these artworks is how the image of what they might create came into their heads. Who would have though of making a skeleton of a bird with fingernails? That’s probably the weirdest medium I’ve ever seen. I similarly wonder about Calder’s mobiles. How did the image of the mobile cross his mind? The structures and masses of each are so delicate and both have great balance. One creepy thing about the bird is how dark and yellow some of the pieces are. I think one of Hawkinson’s goals in making that piece is to creep out the viewer and have fun. In a different way, it seems like Calder has a lot of fun with his pieces. Their textures contrast. Calder’s mobile seems to be smooth, while the bird’s texture is probably rough and sharp.
September 7, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Mishael Lee
“Harrison Xinshi Tu’s calligraphic painting Asking the Heaven” has lose lines with instant quick strokes. It has lose shape, light mass & volume and its flat 2D space with limited colors. On the other hand “Lucien Freud’s self portrait in oil” looks like it has really lose strokes but controlled at the same time. simple shape, lots of lots of layers and it has 2D space as well but looks like 3D. Texture is rough. It has red and green color scheme .
September 9, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Shelby Swart
Harrison Xinshi Tu’s painting Asking the Heaven and Käthe Kollwitz’s woodcut Death of a Child 1925 are at first glance very different pieces of artwork. As one looks closer, however, striking similarities are noticeable. The color similarity is the first thing I noticed. Both pieces are monochromatic and employ sharp contrast to draw attention to the subject. A second similarity is the texture of the work. Both were made with ink and paper, and therefore have a similar 2d texture. Though they were created using similar materials, the line quality of the pieces is very different. Asking the Heaven is obviously calligraphic, with broad sweeping brushstrokes and thick lines. Death of a Child 1925 has very definite, distinct lines that in themselves carry no expression.
September 10, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Mike Feurdean
Though Death of a Child is two-dimensional and Sequence is three-dimensional, and one is a small woodcut and the other a very large structure, the use of color is similar in that there is little concern for it. Instead, each artist seems to be toying with line quality. Sequence has contains smooth, curving lines, whereas Death of a Child draws attention to the many straight lines, even when depicting the face.
September 12, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Kenny Piccolo
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel sequence are both sculptures that the artist chose not to use color for. An obvious difference between these two works is their size. The bird is very minuit in size compared to the torqued steel sequence. Both works are very open to interpretation. Why is the bird made out of fingernails and what is the significance of the sequence? Is it meant to resemble a maze? The bird is also contraire to the sequence in that the artist used his firgernails while Serra chose to use steel, which seeing the finished artwork takes on a smoother-flowing appearance.
September 26, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Yabesh Sharma
Tim Hawkinson’s fingernail bird skeleton and Richard Serra’s torqued steel Sequence are both unique works of art that differ greatly in their texture, volume and the materials used to construct the art works. Both the sculpture are three dimensional and demonstrate the artists ingenious creativity. The fingernail bird occupies very little space and is very fragile compared to the steel sequence that is very strong and solid and occupies a lot of space.