Art Of Sculpture

Metal Sculpture

A sculpture is technically any piece of three dimensional artwork. Sculptures can be made from a variety of different materials and can depict a wide range of subjects. There are five main types of sculptures.

Relief

A relief is a sculpture that is still attached to a background. Typically reliefs appear as sculpture that is used to decorate a building and are attached to the walls or ceiling of the building. Many Greek temples and Roman churches have reliefs as the primary decoration. A relief is also sometimes called a Bas-Relief.

Kinetic sculpture

Kinetic sculpture captures physical motion in sculpture or needs to have physical movement in order to be complete. A good example of kinetic sculptures are modern sculptures that are made of moving parts and need wind or another power source to provide movement. The movement can also create sounds or they can flash light off in different directions. Without the movement the effect isn’t the same.

The best examples of Kinetic sculptures can be seen every year in Baltimore, MD where the Almost Famous Annual East Coast National Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race is held. This race consists of human driven sculptures racing through the city streets.

Fountain

Any sculpture that has been designed to hold standing or running water as a part of the sculpture is considered a fountain. Usually, fountain sculptures are used to decorate the garden, which you will find more information here.

Statue

Statues are the oldest form of sculpture art. Ancient statues were used as tributes but also to illustrate lessons from the Bible and other holy books to serve as an example to people of how they should live.

Bust

Busts are factual depictions of actual people sculpted from the waist up. Busts were very popular as funerary tributes in the Ancient world and in Medieval Europe. They are less popular today but still can be seen as formal tributes to dignitaries. For instance, Washington DC has many busts of the founding fathers.

See Also:

Abstract Sculptures

Bicycle Sculptures

Clay Sculptures

Egyptian Sculptures

Horse Sculptures

Garden Sculptures

Ice Sculptures

Kinetic Sculptures

Living Sculptures

Metal Sculptures

Outdoor Sculptures