Assignment Learning Outcomes
- To understand and apply the principle of unity as it relates to two-dimensional art.
- To introduce a range of principles and methods for unifying diverse elements on the picture plane.
Mini-Assignments
1. Watch and take notes on the video linked below.
2. Define the vocabulary words below in your sketchbook
Materials
“Found objects,” copying machine or camera and printer, card stock, glue stick, x-acto knife.
Time
6 hours
Vocabulary
mark, gesture, point, line, plane, volume, space, dynamic, calligraphy,
representational, non-objective, actual lines, implied lines, psychic lines, shape, form.
Info
The ability to make order from chaos is one of the special talents of the artist and the designer. Good design is often a matter of perceiving potential patterns within fields of apparent disorder or visual complexity. There are some basic grouping or unity principles that can be applied to almost any kind of visual information.
Imagine dumping all of your possessions from your wallet or purse on a table top to create a random or chance “composition“. How could you begin to make sense of the chaos? As we saw in one of the first assignments, a frame helps to focus attention by placing a selection of objects within clear borders or boundaries. Imagine the tabletop as your “frame”, and your possessions as art elements ripe for some organizational or compositional treatment. The frame is the first step in creating your composition – it provides “edges” to the field of chaos.
Now, what are some organizational principles we could use for the objects themselves? One of the most basic is the idea of proximity – that is, the clustering of objects. Imagine pushing all of the objects into one corner of the tabletop. Can you see how our attention follows? What if all of the objects are now clustered in the virtual center of the table except one? Our attention naturally shifts to the center of the table – then back to the isolated element. “Proximity” can be played off relative “distance” – in other words, clusters of objects can be balanced against objects that are excluded from the group.
Consider some other strategies. What if the objects were lined up, one after another, in a continuous “implied line?” Designers call this continuation or contiguity. We can use invisible pathways or other patterns (such as grids or controlling lines) to create an implied relationship between the objects.
Another solution would be to simply turn each object so that it faced the same direction -as if everything on the table were magnetized. The result of this treatment is called unified direction. Objects can be grouped according to a whole array of other factors including shape, size, color, texture, etc. Imagine segregating all of the light colored objects from the dark colored objects for example. Or lining up all of the shiny, metallic objects one after another.
Less obvious in its application is the concept of Gestalt. Gestalt theory suggests that we perceive visual events as “wholes” – overall visual patterns – which are grasped all at once. An example would be seeing a “face” in the craters and patterns of the moon. The visual pattern of the human face is a powerful construct that emerges from the otherwise random distribution of dark and light shapes on the lunar surface.
Process
1. Make a collection (minimum of 15) of smallish objects (1″ – 12″) that possess an interesting range of silhouettes and textures. (Flat or nearly flat objects will work best for this project.)
2. Using a copying machine, copy groupings of objects placed upon the glass of the machine to illustrate particular aspects of UNITY in composition as discussed in class and in the video / readings. You may also use a cell phone or digital camera to photograph your objects and print them out, just make sure to do so against a flat background. The copies or prints should be done before coming to class.
We will do the next portion in class.
3. Produce at least five compositions illustrating the concepts of “Chance,” “Proximity”, “Unified Direction,” “Continuation,” “Unity with Variety.”
4. After making several compositions for each problem, cut four strips of white paper and arrange them around each copy, moving them in and out until you feel that the area left showing is a good composition. Cut the copy out in this configuration and mount the best solution to each problem separately on card stock. (You might
consider using black or gray construction paper as a backing to produce a darker border.)
Challenge: You might also try to produce an “implied shape” or experiment with filling in the objects with ink or gouache to produce all black and white compositions. Try reversing the black and white relationship to create a “figure-ground reversal.”
Artists / References
https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/photocopy-xerox-art-whitney-museum
Victor Vasareley, Joseph Albers, Paolo Ucello
Visual Thinking by Arnheim, Rudolph, 1980
Primer of Visual Literacy by Dondis, Donis, 1973