# data[].attributes.body
Score

making marks on clay to join two pieces of clay together

# data[].attributes.body
Slab

an even flat piece of clay

# data[].attributes.body
Utilitarian Art

art that is meant to be more efficient rather than being appealing

# data[].attributes.body
Texture

the visual feel on an object

# data[].attributes.body
Scale

the size relationship between different objects

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Proportion is the relative size of parts within a whole. The human body is an effective example of the design principle.

Proportions of the human body as a reflection of cultural ideology

Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian Man (1487).

Galleria dell' Accademia,Venice

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Da_Vinci_Vitruve_Luc_Viatour.jpg

This famous drawing is based on the geometrically calculated ideal human proportions describedby the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura . According to Vitruvius the human figure was the primary source of proportion used in Classical orders of architecture.

Michelangelo David 1501-4
marble, 13' 5" H Carrara marble
Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, italy

image source Ignorance Abroad, BillPetro.com weblog http://ignoranceabroad.billpetro.com/2008/11/04/florence-galleria-michelangelos-david/

This detail of the face of Michelangelo's David shows the geometrically calculated proportions described by Vitruvius, which Michelangelo used in all of his figural sculptures. It has come to represent the ideal of human proportions.

Roman, Late Empire Constantine the Great head from a colossal statue, ca. 313-315 C.E.
Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome, Italy
image source AICT/Allan T. Kohl

Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and is well known for establishing the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople, which became the Byzantine Empire. Constantine's conversion eventually resulted in the split of the Roman Empire. The Western section of the empire became centered in Rome.

With the acceptance of what was then seen as a cult--Christianity--and its increasing influence and power, representation of the human figure changed dramatically. The emphasis on the ideal human body as an expression of the divine shifted into a view of the divine as separate from the human body, and the human body as a symbol of imperfection and an embodiment of sin.

For this reason the human body was no longer represented in geometrically calculated proportions, but purposefully exagerrated in order to emphasize the spiritual as apart from the body. It would remain this way throughout the Middle Ages, until the Renaissance in Europe--a rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman ideology-- embraced a return to the mathematically calculated system of representing the human body.

In the head of Constantine, above, you can clearly see this shift in proportion in comparison to the head of Michelangelo's David. In the sculpture of Constantine the eyes are emphasized--much larger in size than in an actual human face--and the forehead is dramatically shortened. How do these aspects reflect an emphasis on the spiritual rather than the physical?

The one thing that remains true to the classical world is the large scale of the sculpture. In this way, the grandeur of the emperor is expressed, combined with the new embrace of the spiritual as defined in Christianity.

The Tetrarchs, porphyry sculpture sacked from the Byzantine Philadelphion palace in 1204

Approximate size 4' 3"

Treasury of St. Marks, Venice

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Venice_%E2%80%93_The_Tetrarchs_03.jpg

This portrait sculpture of the four tetrarchs--Roman emperors--that ruled the Western Roman empire during the third century CE shows the continuing influence of Christianity in the representation of the human figure. Compare the proportions of these figures to the proportions of the Vitruvian man, or Michelangelo's David. Notice also that the scale of the sculptures is much smaller. This is typical of sculpture during the Middle Ages. In addition, the sculpture is wedged onto the corner of St. Mark's Cathedral, thus becoming part of the architecture rather than a free-standing sculpture.

Hannah Hoch in Weimar Germany:

purposeful alteration of human proportion to make a political statement

Hannah Hoch Equilibre (Balance) 1925

Photomontage With Collage And Watercolor 30.5 x 20.3 cm

Collection Institut Für Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart

© 1996 Artists Rights Society (Ars), New York/Nv Bild-Kunst, Bonn

image source The Photomontages of Hannah Höch , essays by Peter Boswell, Maria Makela, Carolyn Lanchner

Published by Walker Art Center, Vineland Pl. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403

Hannah Hoch Hochfinanz (High Finance) 1923

Photomontage With Collage 36 x 31 cm

Courtesy: Galerie Berinson, Berlin image source http://www.dallasgoethecenter.org/hannah.htm

From a review of The Photomontages of Hannah Höch:"Hannah Höch, an artist mostly known as the sole female member of the Berlin DADA movement, was a pioneer of photomontage. The complex imagery of her montage work explores her fragmented life as a woman within a male dominated art movement and pre-war and post-war society in Germany. " http://www.dallasgoethecenter.org/hannah.htm

Weimar Germany--the period during the two world wars--was a time of political upheaval and severe post war problems. This included dealing with monumental losses in human life, economic turmoil, labor strikes, the abdication of the Kaiser, shaky allegiance to the new Republic, a strict postwar Treaty with the Allies, lack of unity, and twenty different coalition governments. These problems and the lack of solid political ledership led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.

Within this period Hannah Hoch created numerous artworks and developed the art of photomontage. Using this method she was able to piece together elements from different sources and alter the scale of objects in the composition as well as proportions within the human body. Consider how this alteration in proportion related to the historical period in which she was working.

Perfect Proportion: The Golden Ratio, the Golden Mean, or Fibonacci's Spiral

A Fibonacci spiral which approximates the golden spiral, using Fibonacci sequence square sizes up to 34.

image by user Dicklyon 17 March 2008

Woodcut from the Divina Proportione, Luca Pacioli 1509, Venice, depicting the golden proportion as it applies to the human face.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Divina_proportione.png

The golden ratio is a mathematical proportion based on pi (1.618033988749895...) and is used to define aesthetically pleasing proportions in art and architecture.

It can be derived with a number of geometric constructions, each of which divides a line segment at the unique point where the ratio of the whole line to the large segment is the same as the ratio of the large segmentto the small segment.

The ratio is found in within all of the natural world; and is clearly illustrated in the spiral of a chambered nautilus.

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NautilusCutawayLogarithmicSpiral.jpg

The ratio is found in all proportions of the human body, from the hands and feet, to the face, to the body as a whole.The ratio has been analyzed in terms of what is considered beautiful in human faces and found that the more closely proportions of the face follow this ratio, the more beautiful it is considered to be.

The ratio has been used for centuries, by the ancient Egyptians in the pyramids, ancient civilizations in the construction of temples, Renaissance artists (who called it the Divine Proportion), and is still used to create a sense of beauty, harmony and balance in art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Proportion is the relative size of parts within a whole. The human body is an effective example of the design principle. Proportions of the human body as a reflection of cultural ideology Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian Man (1487).

# data[].attributes.body
Proportion

a visual with a realistic size

# data[].attributes.body
Contrast

two or more visuals that don't blend together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mental Contrasting: The Master Key to Achieve Your Goals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mental contrasting, a science-backed way to achieve your goals. How to visualize success, identify obstacles & create effective strategies

# data[].attributes.body
Volume

an image or model that is appears to be 3D

# data[].attributes.body
Representational Art

a picture or image that represents an object in real life

# data[].attributes.body
Stylized Art

a picture that was made in an unrealistic way

# data[].attributes.body
Wedging

moving the clay and pressing on it to remove the air bubbles and to connect cracks of clay together

# data[].attributes.body
Organic Form

a natural looking shape that seems to stand out and look 3D

# data[].attributes.body
Geometric Form

shapes that have sharp edges and smooth curves that appear to stand out

# data[].attributes.body
Organic Shape

shapes that give a natural look to it

# data[].attributes.body
Geometric Shape

shapes that have sharp edges and even curves