2D Art
Orthographic Section with Invented Interior
"My art is capable of liberating man from the tyranny of the 'practical, rational world.' " - Salvador Dalí
"Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." - Salvador Dalí
Theory
NOTE: This project is intended primarily for students in Environmental Design.
Realism, photo realism and naturalism all have their place in art, especially when aesthetics and beauty are paramount, but there is much more to art than simply rendering life-like semblances of the world. Art is also a catalyst for awe and wonder: a portal through which we are allowed to glimpse foreign and unexpected versions of reality.
When an artist injects an element of the "unexpected" into an artwork, she can evoke feelings of affection, compassion, disgust, hatred, horror, hostility, pleasure, rage, sympathy, wonder or any of a hundred other emotions. This was part of the raison d'être of the Surrealists who, from the 1920's onward, juxtaposed unexpected images and ideas to elicit an emotional reaction from the viewer.
In his manifesto, Andre Breton (leader of the Surrealists) refers to the writing of Pierre Reverdy. Breton quotes Reverdy, "The image is a pure creation of the mind. It cannot be born from a comparison but from a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be - the greater its emotional power and poetic reality..." (Click this link to read the complete Surrealist Manifesto.)
Project Description
OBJECTIVE: Use graphite (or another fine-pointed drawing tool) on good-quality paper to create a technically-accurate, but imaginary, orthographic section of two distant realities (one object inside of the other). The end result should have "emotional power" and poetry, but also display a sense of "designed ingenuity".
PROCEDURE: Find two ordinary objects that are very distant from one another, such as a piece of fruit and a clockwork apparatus. Divide a horizontal sheet of Fabriano Academia paper into three parts: left half, right half and a narrow space along the bottom about three inches high.
Next, using a hard graphite pencil, draw ONLY THE OUTLINE of the first object on the left half of the sheet. Cut your object in two (or imagine it cut in two) and then, on the right half of the sheet, draw your object's outer surface naturalistically (be sure to use a full range of values). DO NOT DRAW THE OBJECT'S INTERIOR YET. If you prefer, you may wait to add values to the object's outer surface until after you've completed the interior (this may minimize smudges).
Next, draw a naturalistic image of the second object INSIDE the first object. Using our example above, it should appear as though an orange has a clockwork interior instead of the fruit-flesh that would normally be there. This part of your drawing should depict a full range of values from white to black, as well as many shades of grey.
Last, create four horizontal boxes along the bottom of the sheet. In the first box from the left, print the title of your work and the date. In the second box print your name and the course name. In the third box print "Elevation, Plan, Section". In the last box on the far right print the scale (e.g., Scale: 1 cm = 1 mm).
Examples of Student Work
Note
AESTHETIC: Be aware of Emphasis, Variety, Scale and Proportion while you create your work.
TECHNICAL: You are not required to use graphite, but you should begin with it. If you prefer to use pen and ink wash, or a graphic pen, you should trace over your graphite lines once the entire composition is laid in and there is no erasing that needs to be done.
Further Research
I would recommend these videos about art from an excellent PBS series:
- The Case for Surrealism (Art Assignment, Season 3 Episode 31 | 10m 17s)
- Exquisite Corpse - Hugo Crosthwaite(Art Assignment, Season 3 Episode 9 | 9m 34s)
