Contemporary Art Forms Based on the

Elements and Principles

After going through this lesson, the learners are expected to:

• Evaluates contemporary art forms based on the

elements and principles
• Compares forms of arts from the different
regions.
PRINCIPLES OF
ART
APPROPRIATION
Existing artworks are
appropriated to produce
another artwork. Usage of
prints, images, and icons
to produce another art
form.
APPROPRIATION
• Combines past from
the present. Revives
interests to existing
forms of art.
APPROPRIATION
APPROPRIATION
APPROPRIATION
APPROPRIATION
• Is appropriation still acceptable?
• Do you think that the pre existing artwork used in
appropriation is defaced or devalued?
PERFORMANCE
Interpreting various
human activities such as
ordinary activities
such as chores, routines
and rituals, to socially
relevant themes such
as
poverty, commercialism
and war.
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
SPACE
Arts transforming
space. For example,
flash mobs, art
installations in malls
and parks.
SPACE
SPACE
Site specific art
forms – art form that
is performed and
positioned in a specific
space such as public
places
SPACE
HYBRIDITY

Usage of
unconventional
materials, mixing
of unlikely materials to
produce an artwork.
HYBRIDITY

For example,
coffee for painting;
Miniature
sculptures using
crayons.
HYBRIDITY
HYBRIDITY
HYBRIDITY
TECHNOLOGY
Usage of technology
in the creation and
dissemination of art
works.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Video phenomenon from MTV to Youtube.
Recording performances, video posting, sharing, live
streaming.
Elements of Art
Element 1 - Line
❑ Line is the most basic element of art. Without line the other
elements couldn’t exist.
❑ A line can be thought of as a moving dot. If the dots overlap,
it’s a solid line, if they don’t it’s a dotted line. A line has a
beginning and an end and by its existence, creates an edge.
❑ If a line joins up it forms an outline (also called a contour). An
outline creates a shape
Lines can be:
Long or short
Thick or thin
A thick line gives emphasis and advances
while a thin line recedes.

Straight
Straight lines on the other hand are more
mechanistic and dynamic and rarely found in
nature.

Curved
Curved lines change direction gently with no sharp
angles and suggest comfort and ease to the viewer.
Curved lines most often relate to the natural world.
 Zigzag
Zigzag lines alter direction fast and create feelings of
unrest, turmoil and movement.
• Diagonal lines, give movement
and dynamism to a
composition.
• Horizontal lines create the
feeling of stability and calm.
• Vertical lines give the
impression of height and
strength and often have a
spiritual connotation.
 Element 2 - Shape

• When a line meets up

to enclose a space, a
shape is formed.
• Shapes can be:
• Geometric or organic.
Shapes are 2-dimensional, i.e. they
have height and width but no depth
e.g. a square. The best way to
remember the shape element is to
think of an outline.

Positive or Negative Shapes

The object you draw on your page is
a shape enclosed in a frame. This
frame may be a box you drew to
designate the edges of your drawing
area or the edge of the page if you
didn’t draw a box. The object you
draw is the positive shape. The rest
of the space in your box (or if you
didn’t draw a box then the rest of the
page) is called negative shape.
Form is the next step up from shape as ELEMENT 3
we now add depth to it to create a three
dimensional form. FORM

A square (shape) vs a cube, a

triangle vs a cone etc. etc. Form
encloses volume i.e. height, width
as well as depth.
In drawing and painting form can only be implied
because they are 2-dimesional (flat) media. Artists must
use tricks to fool the viewer’s eye so as to create the
illusion of the third dimension i.e. depth. This is
achieved using tools like value (shading), colour and
contour lines.
 Element 4 - Space

• Space is what lies between, around or within an

object.
• To show space in a 2-dimensional medium the
artist must use techniques to create the illusion of
space between items that are in reality on a flat
surface.
• How do artists create this feeling of space
between objects?
Overlapping
When an object is drawn
or painted on top of
another object the
viewer’s eye interprets
this as one object being in
front of another implying
there must be a space
between them.
 • Placement
Objects higher up in the picture plane will
seem to the viewer’s eye to be further away
than objects placed low down in the picture
frame.
• Size
Smaller objects look as if they are further
away than larger objects. Notice how much
smaller the house is in relation to the flowers.
 •Detail
The further away an object, the
less detail is visible to the viewer.
By purposely reducing the amount
of detail in an object it will appear
further away than an object with
greater detail.
Element 5 - Value
Value is how light or dark something is.
There is a scale of light and dark from pure white to to pitch black. The value of a
colour depends on how light or dark it is compared to the value scale.
Getting the values right is more important than getting the colours right in painting.
Value is what makes it possible to show 3-dimensional forms in a 2-dimensional
surface.
By increasing differences in value, contrast is increased as well. A highlight will look
brighter when surrounded by a dark value. Decreasing contrast will make objects
visually recede into the picture plane and draw less attention.
• By contrast “high key” paintings take their range of values from the upper end of the value
scale and create emotions of lightness, quickness, spirituality etc.
• Most paintings however use the full range of values from light to dark.
• Value is what artists use to portray light and form. The further from the light the darker the
value.
color wheel
 Actual texture is the way an object feels
to the touch.
Element 6-texture Drawing or painting texture on a 2–
weathered texture drawing tutorial
dimensional, flat surface is a challenge for
artists. The artist must instead convey the
illusion of the actual texture to the viewer
on the flat surface.
Every textured surface reflects light in a
very particular way. Think of the
difference in texture between a chrome
ball and a concrete ball. The artist,
through careful observation and the use
of light and dark values, recreates this
actual texture visually on the picture
plane.
Classification of Art
Forms
 Visual Arts
These are the arts that meet the eye and
evoke an emotion through an expression of
skill and imagination. It includes painting,
sculpture, and architecture.
 Graphic Arts
Virtual arts that have length and width; thus,
they are also called two-dimensional arts.
They are described as flat arts because they
are seen on flat surfaces.
 Graphic Arts
EXAMPLES: printing, painting, drawing,
sketching, commercial art, mechanical
processes, computer graphics, and
photography
 Plastic Arts
Visual arts that have length, width, and
volume; thus, they are called three-
dimensional arts.
 Plastic Arts
EXAMPLES: sculpture, architecture,
landscape, city planning design, set design,
theater design, industrial design, crafts and
allied arts
 Audio-Visual Arts
Can be enjoyed by the senses of hearing and
sight. It is also called as performing arts. It is
the exploration of kinetic abstract art and
music, or sound set in relation to each other.
It includes visual music, abstract film,
audiovisual performances and installations
 Audio-Visual Arts
Examples: music (vocal, instrumental, and
mixed), dance (ethnologic, social and
theatrical), and drama (tragedy, comedy,
tragicomedy, farce, melodrama, etc.)
 Literary Arts
Relate to the written word and include
writing, editing, critiquing, teaching,
reviewing, and other activities related to
written communication.
 Literary Arts
These activities take place in a variety of
settings, such as classrooms, writers'
workshops/centers, book and magazine
publishing companies, and libraries.
 Literary Arts
The "book arts" are related to a book's
physical presentation and can involve its
paper, binding, printing, or design.
EXAMPLES: prose (short stories, novels,
essays, and plays) and poetry (narrative
poems,lyric poems, and dramatic poems)
Match the illustration on Column A with the
corresponding element or principle on Column B
 Exit Card
3 – things you have learned
2 – things you want to clarify
1 – question in your mind
Identify what elements and principles of contemporary
art as shown in each picture. Write your answer in
your Activity Notebook or Answer sheet. The choices
are APPROPRIATION, PERFORMANCE, SPACE,
HYBRIDITY and TECHNOLOGY.