Forces

About the Artist and Artwork

Hudson, Robert H. (American, born 1938)

Robert Hudson studied at the San Francisco Art Institute during the early 1960s, a period when the second wave of Abstract Expressionism and Bay Area Figuration dominated the curriculum. In pursuing sculpture, he found special encouragement from faculty member Manuel Neri and sought to create large sculptures of welded steel. Like Neri, he aimed in sculpture to create a dialogue with Expressionism and Figuration and began to paint his metal assemblages with bold colors.

Hudson then added found objects, such as the distinctive antlers of Outrigger, to his works. Such sculptures are seemingly irrational in their construction. Symmetry is avoided, and the sense of instability intentional. The title of this work, a word describing projecting supports on either boats or aircraft, is suggested by the way the sculptural elements curve around and then thrust from the core lattice. Hudson particularly enjoyed the disjuncture between the flat and the fully round, which his decorative painting enhanced. Treating the surface as a canvas, especially a patterned canvas, Hudson flattens forms and draws attention to specific zones, yet the final result is open and full of movement as called for by the tenets of 20th-century Modernist sculpture.

Lesson Procedure

Day 1

1. Have students look carefully at the image, Outrigger. This image is accessible on Digital Crocker at crockerartmuseum.org, on the Striking Gold CD ROM, and slides and overheads available for purchase through School Services.

2. Ask the students to describe what objects, colors, shapes, textures, and lines they see in Outrigger and provide a definition of Abstract Expressionism, Bay Area Figuration, assemblage, and found objects.

3. Lead an open class discussion with questions, and record all comments on the board. Ask:

a. Describe the geometric shapes and forms you see in the sculpture. Describe the surface designs that the artist painted on it. How does this help you to define what the sculpture might represent?

b. What do you think the artist meant by the word “outrigger?” In what way might someone describe this sculpture as a figure (the pyramid is a head or hat and the antlers are arms)? If not a figure, what kinds of structures does it resemble (playground equipment, amusement park rides, etc.)?

c. What colors did the artist use? Would you describe them as bright or dull? How would you describe the mood of this artwork?

d. What parts of the sculpture might be “found objects?” Which parts of the sculpture look like they might move? In what ways and directions would they move? How does movement change your interpretation of the artwork or what you think the artist was trying to communicate?

4. Compare how certain parts of the sculpture look like it would take a weak force to move and other parts look like a stronger force would be required. Break students into groups and have them discuss the following science problems (these are fictitious situations and it should be noted that visitors are asked not to touch the sculpture):

a. A few students want to see the sculpture’s movement. Brittany is pushing down on the top of the pyramid with a force of 40 N, Yung is pushing against one side with a force of 40 N, and Jasmine is pushing against the opposite side with a force of 40 N. Are the forces the same or different? Why?

b. Samuel and Jackson are pushing against the sculpture on opposite sides at the exact same time. Samuel is using a force of 150 N and Jackson is pushing at a force of 100 N. How will the sculpture move – with what magnitude of force?

c. Imagine that one part of the sculpture can move in all four directions. Taylor is pushing downward using 50 N, Marianna is using a force of 35 N to the left, Salvatore is pushing upward at a force of 10 N, and Diana is pushing to the right at a force of 20 N. In what direction will that part of the sculpture increase in speed?

d. A 20 N force and a 30 N force are acting from a single point in opposite directions. What force must be added to produce equilibrium?

e. There is a two-pound moveable part on the sculpture hanging on a spring that is close to the ground. Marianna kicks it with a force of 60 newtons. What is the force on Marianna’s foot?

f. Imagine adding a ball on a rope that could swing around the tip of the pyramid at the very top of the sculpture. Draw a diagram of the path the ball takes around the sculpture. Draw a diagram of the path of the ball if the rope broke.

Day 2 - 3

1. Art production: Lead the class in a discussion of balance and asymmetry in sculpture by reviewing how Hudson used different geometric and organic forms in Outrigger. The title comes from the section at the base of the sculpture that resembles the frame extending from the side of a boat that prevents it from capsizing (also used on airplanes). Ask students to share personal experiences of activities that require balance, such as roller coasters, canoes, bicycles, etc.

2. Using scratch paper, have students list a favorite activity from the class discussion and sketch at least two organic shapes and three geometric shapes that create an asymmetric and balanced sculpture to represent that activity. They will create each shape from construction paper. Create a variety of shapes by cutting, folding and rolling paper. Encourage students to create as much height as possible by building the composition up from a wider base.

3. Distribute the art supplies. Before folding and gluing the paper into the final compositions, students will color each piece of paper using bright primary (yellow, red, blue) and secondary (orange, purple, green) colors in abstract patterns.

4. To complete their sculptures, students will add a moveable component. For example, a free hanging loop, a wadded up little ball, etc.