Week 3: The Frames

Can you remember the names of the 4 Frames?

To understand how these Frames work in the Visual Arts – We have to think of them as Perspectives or Points of View. You might be asked to view an artwork from a subjective point of view, or a structural point of view, a cultural point of view or a postmodern point of view. Lets take a closer look at what these perspectives mean.

The SUBJECTIVE Frame

The Subjective Frame refers to a person’s personal perspective or opinion, particular feelings, beliefs, and desires. It is about looking at something and deciding if you like it or if you don’t based mostly on emotion and individual preference. Think about how the artwork makes you feel when you look at it and consider your own individual reaction in comparison with others. Everyone likes different things and that is what makes us unique. When we look through the Subjective Frame, we are looking from our own point of view.

The CULTURAL Frame

The Cultural Frame is about the values of the culture in which the work of art was created. Culture can be understood as ideas that are held by different groups of people. Through this frame we look at how artists are influenced by ideas of nationality, religion, gender, class, art movements, fashion and politics. Don’t just think about culture as a person’s background –  think about about culture as a group of people who share the same values or beliefs. If we view an artwork from a cultural point of view, we are looking at the shared values, attitudes or ideas behind the artwork.

The STRUCTURAL Frame

The Structural Frame is about looking at the artwork’s structure. What signs and symbols can we read in the artwork? What medium has been used to create the artwork. The structural frame looks at the composition of an artwork, that is, the way an artwork is set up. The structural frame looks at understanding an artwork through visual language.

The POSTMODERN Frame

The Postmodern Frame is usually the most difficult for students to get their head around. It takes it’s name from postmodernism, a movement of wide ranging ideas and theories which were mostly  a reaction to modernism that came before. Postmodernism challenges traditional ideas and questions what is art? The postmodern frame looks at how an artwork reacts to the art or culture that came before it. The postmodern frame can be used to analyse art that mimics other art, uses other art within an artwork to create new ideas or contexts and even reinforce ideas that have already been shown.

Lets stick with Andy Warhol’s 32 cans. Through a bit of quick research we can arrange information on this artwork into the correct frames.

Read about this particular artwork by Warhol and The Pop Art Movement on Wikipedia:

<CLICK ON THE ARTWORK BELOW>

Andy Warhol, 32 Cans, 1962

Lets organise this information from Wikipedia into the correct frames.

tHE SUBJECTIVE FRAME	THE CULTURAL FRAME	THE STRUCTURAL  FRAME	THE POSTMODERN FRAME
This artwork makes people feel excited by it’s bright colours. •    The same colours as coca cola – these canvases evoke the same feelings of excitement that a consumer feels when purchasing a mass produced product	The bright colours and use of print media were key features of the 1960s pop art movement. •    The pop artists valued work that imitated consumer society and played with ideas of originality and the reproduction.	•    The red and white colours are typical colours of advertising. •    Thirty-two canvases, each measuring 20  inches in height × 16 inches in width. •    Each canvas is one of the soup varieties available at the time for purchasing	32 Cans uses the appropriation of a mass produced product to make a statement about consumer society. •    The work challenges perceptions of fine arts.

HOMEWORK: Click on one of the following artworks by Warhol to link you to a website. These websites will give you some information on the artwork. In your V.A.P.D, divide a page into 4 columns. Title these columns with Subjective, Cultural, Structural and Postmodern. Using the links below (or you can find your own artwork), organise your research under the correct headings.

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962

Andy Warhol, Brillo Soap Pads Boxes, 1964