Understanding Form
Schools of thought consider Form to be one of the three core components of art. Form itself would refer to the how of the art as in its composition and development.
The context surrounding this view is quite broad and opens many interpretations.
You will see art websites using form and shape at times interchangeably or as related terms. Personally, I believe this is not accurate within its literal context and there are other views to how it is used.
To know what Form In Art is, first we must understand what form is.
Form is when you take a two dimensional shape and give it three dimensional form. This can be seen such as a circle becoming a sphere.
In our practical world we could take a balloon which has shape then give it air blowing it into a form.
In other words when someone is speaking about Form In Art they are, or should be referencing art such as sculptures, carvings, or mobiles.
Much of the standards used in modern art stem from roots founded in Classicism. The Greeks and Romans left us a wealth of education and cultural influence which have been applied for centuries.
While there can be general exceptions to the rule and alternate uses for ideas, these foundations have remained a constant through time.
Getting To Know Formal Analysis
Formal Analysis has guidelines which dictate how elements of art are analyzed. Here you can find a quick cheat sheet for basic explanation to what form is.
What Form In Art is not becomes important. If someone is speaking about a painting know that it does not have a literal true form. It can however possess shape.
ThoughtCo wrote an article detailing how paintings and drawings can have form. Within this analysis they sought to connect this concept through the use of light, shading, and also optical illusions.
This is not true form. It is however tied to an idea which was expressed quite well in Formalism.
Despite this, no illusion of two dimensions can have form. How shape is defined by line, light, shading, color, or other elements on a two dimensional surface, these can still only render a two dimensional art and its shapes.
Some have claimed that form can be also be defined as the sum of multiple elements within a painting. Traditionally this definition is taken from an application used for three dimensional sculptures or mobiles.
Continue to my section below on Formalism In Art to see how form has been adopted to painting and drawings. While this reasoning reaches back in history before Formalism, this period depicts the philosophy well.
Defending My Position On Form In Art
You can visit the National Gallery Of Art website to see a 3rd and 4th grade level exercise to understand the principle of Form In Art. Here students learn that form is of a three dimensional geometric shape.
Form has, and always will, speak to real geometric shape. A circle only gains form when it is a sphere. A square can only have form as a cube. A triangle can only have form being a pyramid.
No amount of artistic philosophy can change this. The problem comes in how an object is represented.
Within literal context a drawing of a cube is still a two dimensional shape representing a three dimensional geometric object.
So why do people mix Form In Art with shape? There is of course the issue surrounding common vernacular in how we interpret words in language.
But a deeper reason is behind this in how we simply wish to relate to objects. This reason I believe is better understood through our development and interaction with New Media Art.
First I will introduce you to a recent and near modern example of a period called Formalism.
Formalism – How Artists Break The Rules Of Form
Leave it to artists to break all the rules, but know this began long before Formalism came to be. It was Maurice Denis which coined “aesthetic pleasure was to be found in the painting itself not its subject”.
It is within ideas such as this in history that artists create outside the box.
Subjects in art can be many different things. Yet the sum of what the subject is, combined with its other elements, begins to build a meaning to its story.
This in turn delivers aesthetic value to the art.
Roger Fry stated that “form itself can convey feeling”. It has also been stated that space is in of itself a Form In Art.
While these statements are arguable by context, we need to understand the reason behind what is said.
Just to clarify one part of this story, the term Formalism has little to nothing to do with form within Formal Analysis. While concepts will cross over at times, the first did not create the need or use of the latter.
Artists of history realized the pleasure which can be found in the aesthetics of what art is. This became what was most important.
A representation within art consisted of more than the object and its shape. The elements of art are used to create meaning and context to an end beyond mere geometry.
How does this principle work? Artists create visual aspects which became more important by its context through the sum of what they form, rather than its visual relationship to the visible world.
Here the idea of what form is has been redefined from its literal definition to an application or method that is used by artists.
Within this context a painting, drawing, or any kind of art can have form. Yet this context exists outside of the mathematical or scientific meaning.
It is purely created for and by artists relating to aesthetics and feel of the art.
So… Paintings Can Have Form In Art! Context Is Everything
When form is expressed for paintings it speaks to more than geometrical “form” or shape. Rather than contours we look to the sum of the aesthetics and appeal.
In this way through the ideas found within Formalism, we find the point which ThoughtCo expressed to be accurate within their general context.
To help break this into more technical terms one must explore the uses of Unity and Harmony in art. These two principles of art play a role in creating Form to this alternate meaning.
Form In Art can have two meanings. One can be speaking to the kind of art, the other being the nature of the art.
It can express its physical form, or its application to its other parts.
With this ability to fit different meanings depending upon context, how do you know which Form In Art is being discussed?
Within Formal Analysis, commonly form for sculptures or mobiles deals with the geometrical form. Within painting more commonly form constitutes the sum of its parts for aesthetic appeal.
Having said all of this, as I lead you down this rabbit hole of minor confusion, be prepared for more. Rules are about to be broken once again.
Next we dive into the world of technology.
How Form In Art Applies To New Media Art
New Media Art is a catch all for many different forms of art based upon technology. Included with this can be graphic arts, cgi, virtual reality, augmented reality, and even simple art like gif’s or jpeg’s.
Cgi is still two dimensional and cannot qualify as being three dimensional despite our ability to have “3d movies”. The art which is rendered is still displayed on a two dimensional screen.
With cgi the older argument of what is literal form as compared to aesthetic form will apply. Not much has changed here.
The same could be said for many graphic arts by comparison.
Here is where things get a little tricky. Virtual Reality has the ability to place you within a world where you become a part of the art.
When does this begin to take on a more literal form as well as the aesthetic appeal within art?
Companies like Sony have invested a lot of money in VR to put players within their games. The art which surrounds a player would be more qualified as having application for the different views of Form In Art.
Yet it is within augmented reality that this form truly matures by its real definition into something amazing. More commonly we can find this art within fields such as architecture, the aerospace industry, and even the health industry.
Form In Art Applied To Augmented Reality
Augmented reality gives someone the ability to project the art into our physical world in a three dimensional way. While the art is not physically real, it can be altered, interacted with, and examined to great detail in real time.
These models serve to save time and money in building prototypes through the use of software for extensive projects.
Here Form In Art plays a critical role beyond aesthetics alone. It also serves a higher purpose than for sculpting or creating beauty.
It gives us the ability to see what could be in order to serve people and communities.
At present further development is being made which will allow people to have virtual objects which we interact with in our physical world. These objects grant people the power to have access to critical information or obtain assistance.
This technology holds the potential to take art itself to a whole new world. Virtual galleries, design, how we share and relate to our friends, will one day take on a whole new meaning.
It will become as if one took the internet then brought it to life through a world which we live within simultaneously in our present reality.
What Is The Definition Of Form In Art?
Traditionally Form In Art is a reference to three dimensional art such as sculptures and mobiles. Yet we have discovered it can also include paintings.
The answer to this question will depend on who you ask and what school of thought they are from. Are they looking to history, our present day, or to the future?
The meaning behind this definition is an ever changing thing.
If one were to take a more literal analysis, the Line in art can only create shapes on a two dimensional plane. This shape can represent a three dimensional object, yet the shape itself is not a three dimensional form.
When you begin to accept other views of Formal Analysis in art, here enters the sum of the parts for any work of art.
Combined with this can be color, contour, objects, subjects, and the aesthetic appeal.
With elements such as line and color, shading and light, each play a role in this creation albeit as an individual element. Form In Art is found when these elements are combined to create more than the object itself.
Here the theory of space in art, being a form of art, is born philosophically rather than literally. Within a literal context space has no form.
Artistically space becomes a form due to what is placed within it, or what surrounds it.
Thus the context of these parts is found within the story which the artist wishes to share. This too becomes a form within the work due to artistic expression, emotion, logic, and the world as seen through the artists eyes.