UNIT 4 > The relationship between effects and techniques

4.1 Introduction

For this unit, the course begins to tie together a consideration of how various techniques an artist might employ impacts the finished artwork and how it effects viewers. Specifically, the course website explains:

“Think back to Activity 4. Did you find yourself concluding that you liked or disliked any of the art works? Or even that you loved or hated them? Just as with poetry, liking or disliking something is a common first reaction to an art work; there's nothing wrong with having these feelings. It's advisable to monitor your own feelings carefully, and not to distance yourself from an art work because you're afraid you're not going to understand its meaning. As you know, an art work is often created in order to appeal to your feelings, so it would be rather odd if you ignored these. Along these lines, the 2003 Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry (see Plate 12) said:

I think it's about time that people started to bring their senses into play more and trust their bodily reactions to work – become more willing to say, ‘Wow! That is really lovely. I love that!’, rather than looking for the meaning of it all the time.

(Perry, The Guardian online, 2003)

Having said this, for academic purposes it's also helpful to allow some reaction time after your first impression, and to think about the techniques that have achieved these effects. So pause and think about what it is about the appearance of an art work that affects you in a certain way. Consider just what the artist involved might be trying to say via this work. Then, rather than simply saying ‘this painting is really gloomy, I just don't like it’, you can say something like ‘this painting makes me feel gloomy and uneasy because of the dominant purple and green colours’. Such a statement makes a connection between the effects and techniques points of the Study Diamond and can form the basis of an argument about the possible meaning of an art work.

For now, we're going to shift our attention to the techniques point of the Study Diamond, focusing on those techniques that have been used in some of the Turner Prize-related art works that you've already encountered.”

4.2 The form of art: looking at techniques

The site then introduced the idea of FORM, which is a key component examined when studying works of art. Specifically, the course website notes how:

“In art history the word ‘form’ is used to describe the overall shape and structure of an art work. Various techniques will have been used to create this form such as;

  • Colour;

  • Medium; and

  • Composition (arrangement).

Initially you'll focus on the techniques used in paintings and later you'll extend your exploration of techniques to cover sculpture and installations. You'll encounter a lot of new technical terms in the next few sections. While this may appear a little daunting at first, rest assured that each term will be explained fully. By the end of this free course you'll have developed a valuable approach that will allow you to systematically analyse art works from all time periods”

Video > KQED Art School. “Elements of Art | KQED Arts.” YouTube, 14 Oct 2014.

— END OF UNIT 04 —