Form, Subject, & Content

Form is a way to represent ideas and emotions physically. There are two types of forms: Two-dimensional, and three-dimensional forms. Two-dimensional forms are created using line, shape, texture, value, and colour. Three-dimensional forms are more complex, and use more elements to translate into three-dimensional work. The basic elements of three-dimensional form include: line, plane, volume, space, mass, texture, and colour. For time based art forms such as movies; duration, tempo, intensity, scope, setting and chronology are used. Form is the combination of the visible elements of an art piece, and the way in which they unite

The subject is the topic of the artwork. It answers the questions: who, what, when, where, and why in a piece of art. It’s easy to find the subject of a piece of art when a recognizable person, object, event, or setting is visible. For example, Vincent Van Gogh was the subject of his self-portraits.

The content is the underlying point that the artist was trying to get across with their piece of art. It’s usually an emotional or intellectual message. For example, Guernica by Pablo Picasso was painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazis devastating bombing on the town Guernica during the Spanish civil war.

Objective & Subjective Criticism

Objective criticism is a method used to criticize art without involving your own personal opinions/emotions about the artwork. When you criticize something objectively, you assess how well the artwork applies the elements and principles of design. Discussion is usually straightforward, and focuses on the concerns with the basic composition of the piece.

Subjective criticism focuses on the personal opinions the viewer has about a piece of artwork. Unlike objective criticism, subjective criticism is all about the emotional/intellectual impact the art has on the person viewing it. Because everyone has had different life experiences, subjective criticism can vary greatly from person to person. Discussion focuses on the subject and content of the