Is modeling a form of art or not?

[EW]

How do you introduce and explain your hobby to the "outsiders"? I always say that I have an interest in art, when people ask me about my hobbies. It makes the explanation so much more easier (read mature) and exciting. The standard follow up question is "So what do you do? Oil, sculpturing etc.." No Ma'am, plastic

 

But where does the thin red line between art and handicraft go? One way to look at it would be that since we try to replicate "real stuff" in the most realistic way, our hobby mainly ought to be labeled as handicraft. But if a real artist makes an oil painting of a P-51, what's the difference then, apart from the materials and the techniques used? Don't we all "replicate" the same subject, in this case the P-51, in different ways due to what we want to "tell" the viewer?

 

Ok, "we" don't have "artistic freedom" as much as those who produce modern art for example, but it's still there IMHO, thus making "us" artists. And admit it, artist sounds more cool and sophisticated than being a modeler, right?

 

But how do you "define" yourself and modeling? As I see it there are no absolute truths when it comes to topics like this, so what do you think. Do I need a reality check or not?

 

 

EW

[Balabanov]

I'd definitely call scratchbuilding a model an art. Using "pre-packed" models -- well.... more like craftwork.

[DougRichards]

About a decade ago I saw in the Sydney Art Gallery a display of 'art', reputedly very well done according to the critics, something to be treasured etc, which consisted of pieces of plastic models glued together haphazedly to form a metre tall tower. Glue was evident everywhere and the thing looked like a nightmare.

 

Another 'art' work by the same so-called artist was a gold casting that he had done, or ripped off I would say. He had simply made a mould from a Monogram 1/24 car sprue and cast it in gold, that is all, nothing more, except to put it in a case.

 

I would say that the sprue by the original Monogram creators was a nice piece of work, very well done, perhaps could be considered a work of art, but the rip off?

 

If that is art, then I would prefer my hobby to be called something else.

 

[Edited by DougRichards (09 Aug 2003).]

[George Newbill]

First of all "HANDYCRAFT" is an art form in itself, so reguardless, one defination or the other it, the hobby, is art.

 

From what I see, THE HOBBY is a fine art.

 

GN

[Gennady I. Beregovoy]

I remember some of the replies I got when I told some friends to go see last year's model exhibit contest where I had an entry. They said "Wow, I didn't know you were an artist."

 

Me, artist? NEVAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

 

For me, I see the hobby as that - a hobby. I dunno. Call me old fashioned. I see art as the paintings of Rembrandt, or the sculptures of Michaelangelo. But the "art" some "artists" churn out today, the "psychedelic paintings", the weird forms, etc. - I call it trash.

 

However, I would agree to Balabanov's reply that scratchbuilding a model is an art. Same thing with building a model ship using only toothpicks and nothing else.

 

Is it wrong if I don't consider my hobby an art form? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. But for me, at my skill, it's a hobby. Maybe that's it - the degree of skill needed to produce something. If it doesn't require all that much skill or expertise, it's a hobby. But a model that is uber-detailed, with lots of scratchbuilt parts, like what Shephard Paine or Zaloga produces, or any other expert model builder - that is, I might consider, as art.

[George Newbill]

I am myself past the point of putting togather Tamya tanks and stopping at that, at a minimum I correct the most glareing mistakes and superdetail the model. Yes the moldmaked was an artist, but my detailing and painting makes it a collaberation.

 

GN

 

[Edited by George Newbill (10 Aug 2003).]

[Balabanov]

Back when I had the time and the space to be deep in modeling (I had about 250 A/C's 1/72 mainly and c. 20 AFV's 1/35 and 1/72) I looked at it more as making a collection rather than art. however, I made several scratchbuilt models, and, to be honest, it is much closer to sculpting rather than anything else. You use a vast set of materials and techniques that dwarf, say, clay-only sculpting and the skill is at least at the same height (if not above). If 2D paintings of A/C's and AFV's IS an art, then why building a real scale model out of a bunch of solids and liquids shouldn't be ?

 

Best,

IBB

[Jacques]

Its art...

 

the actual building of a kit is handicraft. Building it WELL is getting closer to artwork, because skill is becoming involved.

 

When you delve into painting or scratchbuilding, then it is absolutely art. More than ANYTHING else, it is the paint job that pushes models into the true art form. Painting correctly is tough, and no two tanks ever look the same, even as a model.

 

So call yourself a artist if you need to. I prefer SUPER model builder!

[Gennady I. Beregovoy]

Originally posted by Jacques:

<snip> I prefer SUPER model builder!   

 

I prefer "building" a super model. Better yet, "tinker" with a super model hehehe

[Guest JackG]

I would say model building is a form of art. It clearly is a combination of painting (on a 3D surface) and to a lesser extant sculpting (depending on how much scratch building one does). It is also a hobby, just like painting can be a hobby. But when does it become art and not merely a hobby - when you receive positive compliments and people like your work.

[Michael Eastes]

Kit building is a hobby, even though some folks get phenomenal results, and from time to time it approaches art.

 

I think to be a real art form, though, modelling has to be scratchbuilding. Very tough, and not something I have very much experience with.

[Guest Sargent]

It's art when somebody will pay money for the finished project.

 

Or, possibly, when it wins a prize in an exhibit.

[Guest GarthKidman]

I'm with Jacques on this ... buying a kit and some glue and slapping it together doesn't qualify as "art" any more than building the Ikea bookshelves that my models sit on does.

 

But when you start talking about detailing and finishing a model ... that's a different story altogether. Using an airbrush to getting just the right feathered demarcation lines between camoflage colors, or drybrushing an instrument panel just right, or weathering correctly (I could go on) does cross the threshold into "art", imho.

 

--Garth

[Jacques]

Originally posted by Michael Eastes:

Kit building is a hobby, even though some folks get phenomenal results, and from time to time it approaches art.

 

I think to be a real art form, though, modelling has to be scratchbuilding. Very tough, and not something I have very much experience with.

 

I know what you are getting at Micheal, but the "standard" oil painter does not go out and build the frame or canvas of the painting, or grind up and prepare the oils by which they paint.

 

It is one of the biggest bitches of some of my fellow modellers who are also art teachers or artists...lazy modern artists who buy commercial products and just paint. I say the modern artist is still creating art, just in a different fashion.

 

Model builders take a kit and don't just build it, we try to build it WELL. and then, we not only paint it, but we paint it to be more realistic, to capture a moment from a story, idea, or photograph. It is not just a representative lump of plastic, it truely is a work of art. And yes, people buy built models all the time, for museums and personal collections. And some of it not even that good...

[Lentzner]

In general, I would say model building is not art. This is not a criticism of the hobby, though. I have the utmost respect for a great model builder. The degree of technical skill can be breathtaking at times.

 

I think judging something as art by how difficult it is to make or do is a red herring. A scratch model builder is no more an artist than a kit builder. He is certainly a better technician, craftsman, what have you.

 

The art is in the unique interpretation. I would say that a diorama builder is getting into the art area. If the diorama evokes some sort of emotion in the viewer then you are getting into the realm of art.

 

A perfectly built model is a technical achievement. A grotesque pile of glued plastic is art (probably bad art, but art) with likely no technical skill at all.

 

If I painted a copy of the Mona Lisa it would not make me an artist even if it was perfect. Leonardo was the artist, I would be merely a great technical painter.

 

(IMHO)

 

Matt

[Jacques]

Yeah, this is a real easy topic, right? Think you can get a grant from the Govt. to build models as art? ...HEY, IT WAS MY IDEA FIRST! Slow down, I get to be first in line to ask for money!

 

[Edited by Jacques (12 Nov 2003).]

[AaronW]

After searching the net for a definition of art vs craft, I am of the opinion that modelling is an art because of this discussion. One recurring theme I found was debate over what is a book, what is a sculpture etc. The fact that what is modeling has come up proves to me it is art. Besides I've seen a lot of so called art that takes much less effort or interaction from the artist.

[Mk 1]

I agree with Letzner.

 

The essence of art is the creative aspect. Put together a kit, and you have a handicraft. Create a scale duplicate of an object out of raw materials, and you have a high level of handicraft.

 

Paint by the numbers, and you are not an artist. Give me a drawn presentation of a car, and I'll call you a graphic designer, but not an artist.

 

Conceive of a scene into which you place the car, such that I might have an emotional response, and I'll call it art.

 

So building a model doesn't qualify as art to me. Even if you build it well.

 

Painting it also does not qualify as art, unless you start to express some creativity in the paining. Is there a story told by the paint? Brown gooey mud in the tracks (yawn), but some unexplained red streaks (uh oh?)? Fluids stains off the back deck of the tank where there is no filler cap, but there are a few footprints on the deck? Now I'm seeing some artistry.

 

And when we turn to the dioramas ... that's were I find the art present in unmistakable form. I've seen dioramas that are so ... creative! That tell a whole story in an instant, scaling both space AND time. Where there is so much emotion in the expressions, and detail that is hidden from view except under close examination --that I find it captivating and enthralling. That, I would term as art.

 

To qualify as art, in my mind, is not to answer the question of how many skills were involved, but rather how creative the process was.

 

-Mark 1

[Jacques]

Ah, but there are "artists" who have done what is essentially unfinshed paint-by-number...it is still called art, and brilliant at that.

 

Graphics designers are defiantely artists...it is just realism, a form of art.

 

People who design and build functional building are called artists.

 

Or else sculptors are not artists...they just find the form in the block of granite.

 

I think more of the question should be that of mass production vs. unique piece of art. If a painting is set up with a series of masks, or by placing a 3D graphic that is "melted" onto a paint frame, then it is not art, it REPRESENTS art. The reason, mass production. Mona Lisa is a work of art. A forgery of the Mona Lisa is ALSO a work of art, in its own right, as this is a well documented occurance. While a forgery will not command the same price as the original, people still collect them and pay well for them.

 

And as for the paint on a tank, it is creative. Think of how people work hard to set thier Tamiya M4 Sherman apart from everyone else's. This involves more than just technical skill.

 

Oh, and I know many carpenters who would disagree that handiwork, what much of carpentry is called, does not qualify as artwork as well.

 

So as we can all see, this is a very easy topic to define. Now lets work on something that demands real debate power...the proper shade of Olive Drab in ET WWII...on a 5th Army Sherman..LOL

[Guest GarthKidman]

Funny thing is, Jacques, that you CAN get money out of the government for doing this. Ok, so your models won't show up in the National Gallery of Art. But they WILL be put on display at NASM. Which is preferable, imho.

 

--Garth

 

Originally posted by Jacques:

Yeah, this is a real easy topic, right?  Think you can get a grant from the Govt. to build models as art?  ...HEY, IT WAS MY IDEA FIRST!  Slow down, I get to be first in line to ask for money! 

 

<font size=1>[Edited by Jacques (12 Nov 2003).]

[Jacques]

Originally posted by GarthKidman:

Funny thing is, Jacques, that you CAN get money out of the government for doing this.  Ok, so your models won't show up in the National Gallery of Art.  But they WILL be put on display at NASM.  Which is preferable, imho.

 

--Garth

 

 

Yeah, but you got to be GOOD to get in there...all of us "competant fakes" just dream away while building. Yes, I do not think the work I personally do is quite art...yet...

[EW]

Well, I'm a bit surprised that this old thread found new life, so I might elaborate a bit more why I consider modeling a form of "art"

 

I think the word "creativity" is essential when it comes to define what's "art" or not. I also tend to focus more on what's happening inside my head when I see an un-assembled kit for the first time, in this case a P-51, than the actual building process. So more or less instantly "images" start to appear, like on a movie screen, of a weathered fighter that has returned from a mission with oil leaks, powder stains from guns and exhausts and so forth. The pilot is chatting with the ground crew etc etc. Could this mental process be compared to the one a real artist goes trough before he starts to paint the P-51?IMHO yes, since we both try to capture the "true" nature of the object at hand.

 

EW

[ShotMagnet]

I think any creative enterprise can be called art. A kit built from a box full of pieces is still a creative endeavour; as much so as is baking a cake from a recipe.

The wish to create is what defines art. Draw a drawing, write a book, play an instrument; they're each an expression of the desire to create, to be creative. Modeling is no different. The pieces are there, but they don't glue and paint themselves. You do.

 

Shot

[Archie Pellagio]

I consider model making a hobby.

 

Scratch-building ships is a hobby, but it pushes into art.

 

The Mona-Lisa is art

 

The Cistine Chapel is art

 

A super-detailed Bf-109-G6/R4 with pilot figurine playing with the squadron dog, is a model aeroplane.

 

[Edited by Luke_Yaxley (16 Mar 2004).]