The Different Types of Art Sculpture

There are different types of Art Sculpture that have been made since the very first piece was created. Here is a brief overview of the types:

• Stand Alone: (for example) Sculptures, Statues, Structures

• Integrated - into facades, pavement/concrete or landscape: Bas-Relief, Geoglyphs, Petroglyphs, Mosaic, Digital Lighting (Niagara Falls)

• Applied - to a surface: Murals, Building-Mounted Sculptures

• Installation - where the artwork and the site interact with each other: Transit Station Art

• Ephemeral - or non-permanent: Performances, Temporary Installations (a precarious rock balance, a Cairn, or an instance of colored smoke).

An Idea and the Location

Step 1:

Begin to develop your idea for a Public Sculpture; you can do Step 1 two ways:

Option 1: Think of an idea for a unique sculpture first, then try and find a location for that sculpture.

Option 2: Find a location first, then develop a sculpture that would fit within that location.

Things to think about when developing and drawing your sculpture idea:

• Size

• Unique, One-Of-A-Kind

• Can you interact with it (touch, sound, smells) -or- will you only look at it?

• Color and Lighting (How will it look during the Day -vs- Night)?

• Meaning, Does the sculpture mean anything?

• Inspiration, Did the location inspire the design?

Sketching Out Your Sculpture

Step 2:

Once you have developed your idea for your Public Sculpture, you can begin to sketch out how it will look.

1. Some students draw (1) illustration showing their sculpture from one direction (one side) with a background.

2. Other students draw (1) illustration that has a few smaller drawings of their sculpture showing different sides or views of it but without a background.

3. A few students draw everything, multiple illustrations showing the different sides of the sculpture along with detailed backgrounds.

Choice #1 is most common, but feel free to choose the option that you like best.

A Student's Detailed Example:

One student chose New York City as the location. Having lived there, he began to think about the differences of Buffalo and New York City. He explained that the pizza was quite different and he decided to create 8 sculptures of various types of pizza. Each slice would be around 20 feet tall and would be installed 10 feet off the ground, that way you could walk under them. During the day they were naturally lit with sunlight and at night they would be lit by lighting (there would be "hidden" solar lights mounted above the sculpture).

Each slice had different toppings represented on them. Before the sculptures were designed, he was going to take a poll from the residents of the surrounding area, to ask them, what their favorite toppings were. Once the polls came back, the top 8 results were then going to be designed as the details on each slice.

The sculptures, the 8 slices of pizza, were going to be placed in different spots around the city. Those spots were going to be near, "8 Significant Areas of NYC." Near the sculptures there was going to be a souvenir Token dispenser that would sell you a triangular token that had the slice of pizza on one side and the significant area of NYC on the other side. You could collect all 8 of them and put them into a souvenir book that further explained the project. The souvenir book looked like a pizza box, if you collected all 8 they would complete a circle, making the whole "pizza pie". His project was called, "8 Slices of New York City."

A Few Local Public Art Sculptures (within 1 Hour of Buffalo)