Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each design move by what it does to stability.
Groups: Increases stability · Decreases stability
- Adding a long projecting arm
- Adding a visible strut into the composition
- Raising the mass into a tall narrow column
- Placing dense material low in the piece
- Widening the base
- Cantilevering weight beyond the base edge
Hints
- Ask in each case what happens to the centre of mass and to the base.
- Anything that moves mass outward or upward reduces stability.
Show the answer
Increases stability: Widening the base, Placing dense material low in the piece, Adding a visible strut into the composition
Decreases stability: Adding a long projecting arm, Raising the mass into a tall narrow column, Cantilevering weight beyond the base edge
Why
The right-hand column is not a list of mistakes. Every one of those moves is available as a deliberate effect, and the demanding case is the piece that looks unstable and is not, which requires knowing exactly where the centre of mass sits rather than guessing.
Practise Structure, Armature and the Centre of Mass
The app has 4 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Sculpture I is free to start.
More questions on Structure, Armature and the Centre of Mass
- Why does lowering the centre of mass make a sculpture more stable, given the same base?
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- Complete the account of standing up.
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