Interpreting Works of Art

Video Transcription

Hello. I'd like to welcome you to this episode of Exploring Art History with Ian. My Name is Ian McConnell. And today's lesson is about the differences between types of artistic media. As you're watching the video, feel free to pause, move forward, or rewind as many times as you feel is necessary. As soon as you're ready, we can begin.

Today's objectives, or the things you're going to learn today, are listed below. By the end of the lesson today, we'll be able to identify and define today's key terms, explain the main differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art, and briefly explain differences between traditional and experimental forms of media.

Key terms, as always, are listed in yellow throughout the lesson. First key term is artistic medium, the material in which a work of art is made, such as painting or sculpture. Two dimensional-- a work of art made on a flat surface, such as a painting, drawing, print, or photograph. Three-dimensional-- a work of art that exists in space, usually sculpture or variations of sculpture. Traditional media-- common materials used to make works of art or architecture, so for example, stone, wood, bronze, ink, paint, paper.

The big idea, the common thread or theme for this lesson, is that works of art can be generally categorized as either two-dimensional or three-dimensional and created with either traditional or experimental media.

So two dimensional-art, we'll begin with that. We'll look at the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. And it's not a major difference. Or I should say it's not a difficult-to-understand difference.

The dimensions I'm referring to are linear measurements like height and width. 2D art can be measured only by two different dimensions. It can only be viewed from we'll call it the front. 3D art is measured in three dimensions, usually height, width, and depth. The subject matter of the artwork exists in 3D space, meaning you can move around the object and still see some aspect of the subject matter. With a 2D painting, for example, you can only view the subject matter from the front.

Here are some examples of 2D and 3D art. So here is a two-dimensional painting. It's on a flat surface. Another two-dimensional painting. This is a three-dimensional sculpture. It's measured in three dimensions, and you can move around it and still see some aspect of it. Another three-dimensional object, a two-dimensional painting, a three-dimensional sculpture, a two-dimensional painting, a three-dimensional sculpture. So I think you get the idea.

Next, we're going to look at traditional versus nontraditional or experimental media. Traditional media would include materials like stone, wood, bronze, ink, paint, paper, just to name a few. Experimental media is really anything the artist wants to use.

So you could have a garbage sculpture or an ice sculpture, which is more common now. Painting with animal blood, which is really gross, in my opinion. But who am I to judge? You name it, it's probably been attempted. And some of the more interesting mediums, for me personally, include body art, land art, or architecture made from LEGO bricks, which was my favorite toy as a kid.

So here are some examples of our produce with traditional media and experimental media. We'll begin with traditional media on the left. That is an ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. A painting, a tapestry, which is another form of art, and a mosaic. On the right are forms of experimental media.

And I do want to point out that this LEGO bridge is not produced with real LEGO bricks, at least to my knowledge. But hopefully you get the idea that you can produce sculpture with LEGO bricks, which is pretty cool. Here's an example of body art. And land art, this is a spiral jetty that was created by an artist.

So that brings us to the end of this lesson. Let's take a look at our objectives to see if we met them. Now that you've seen the lesson, are you able to identify and define today's key terms?

Can you explain the main differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art? And can you briefly explain differences between traditional and experimental forms of media? Once again, the big idea for today is that works of art can be generally categorized as either two-dimensional or three-dimensional and created with either traditional or experimental media.

Well, that's the end of the lesson today. I'd like to thank you for joining me. And I'll see you next time.