Online Reading Club: Art Theory and Appreciation

The third element of art we are going to study is shape, and as the rest of the elements we have studied so far, this that can be found in any design. However, some art theorists consider shape an element only linked to two-dimensional artworks, but others connect it with both two- and three-dimensional ones. Moreover, while those first theorists emphasize the idea that shape is mainly related to the boundary lines of two-dimensional artworks, the second ones also consider the internal structure or structural skeleton of artworks part of their shape.

Roadmap: First, a video will define this third art element with vocabulary and useful expressions, and at the same time, it will activate some basic ideas about it by means of art images. Second, we will optionally further our familiarity with a summary of the chapter on shape by German-born American art and film theorist and perceptual psychologist Rudolf Arnheim taken from his classic 1974 book Art and Visual Perception. Third, we will have two other optional activities: a graded quiz and an assignment to upload. Finally, the most important part of the study of this topic is to share your ideas and impressions with your fellow-students on the module forum.