Components of a Work of Art are really important when creating an Artwork, aside from Visual Art & Principles of Art. Art is always about something. Meaning is what distinguishes art from other
kinds of skilled making. "The embodied meanings” – what is the artist trying
to say? The Subject matter, Form, Content & Iconography are the components of a work of art.
- Subject is the "What" a representational and nonobjective.
- Form is the "How" arranging the elements or total appearance of the work; way the work of art looks;
(Elements of art: “building blocks”; line, shape, value,
texture, & color)
(how
the elements are arranged is the composition) Composition is the organization of the elements of art (lines,
shapes, colors etc.) more often applied to two-dimensional art; the broader
term is design. Any identifiable shape or mass as a
“geometric form”.
- Content is the "Why" "what about" (interpretation of subject matter); psychological or emotional properties felt or implied. What a work of art is about, its subject matter as interpreted by the viewer.
(Form & Content =
as we experience how form and subject matter interact, we begin to interpret
the work, and content shades into meaning.)
- Iconography is the describing images; Involves identifying, describing, and interpreting subject matter in art.
And there is also the context.
- Context is circumstances; the personal and social circumstances surrounding the making, viewing, and interpreting of a work of art; the varied connections of a work of art to the larger world of its time and place.
