Learning Outcomes
To understand and apply the principles of “patterning” as applied to two-dimensional art.
To introduce the concepts of “design process,” “module,” and “pattern.”
To explore the range of part-to-whole relationships that can result from the considered design of modules and their application to different patterning schemes.
To indicate the universal aspects of patterning as found in cultures throughout the world.
Mini-Assignments
- Create 10 different original patterns. There are several smartphone apps that can help you do this.
- Find and print 20 patterns that you like or want to use. These should be large, high resolution images. Double check copyright.
Major-Assignment
This assignment can be completed in multiple different ways. Choose one. The primary goal of this assignment is to understand how pattern can be used to create or collapse depth, create texture and create interest and / or multiple focal points.
- The first part of this assignment is to research and create a series of patterns (see mini-assignments). These patterns can be done on 8 by 10 cardstock or Bristol board and be in either black and white or color. You can use graphite, colored pencil, marker, or computer printer but no paint, pen or charcoal.
- This is where you have multiple options:
- Cover objects with your chosen pattern and photograph them with the highest resolution possible. Pay special attention to how pattern changes the object or the background. What happens if you have two competing patterns (one on the object and one in the background)?Get creative with this part. It should not look like you have just wallpapered a bunch of objects and photographed them. Once you have photographed your covered objects, use the app PosterRazor to print the final image/s. The final image must be at least 4 feet.
- Create a quilt with multiple patterns. Research quilt designs and use the patterns you created to help design your quilt. The craftsmanship should be perfect. You may sew, glue, fold, or weave to create your quilt. The quilt must be at least 4 feet.
- Create a collage using patterns as the primary medium. The collage must be at least 4 feet.
- Come up with something completely different – discuss with professor.
Materials
To be determined by the artist
Info
Pattern is an orderly arrangement of things forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement or sequence. While in two dimensional art we can produce patterns comprised of repeated shapes or modules, a pattern can also be any regular rhythm in time or space. Patterns can also be used to create identical shapes or parts. Pattern-makers – from dress-design to boat manufacture – are highly valued for their conceptual and design abilities.
Patterns pervade nature. People and plants grow in patterns, and so do spirals and money in the bank. Pendulums move in patterns, as do waves and spinning tops and springs. Sailors are on the lookout for patterns of sea and sky and wind that tell of bad weather. Parents look for behavior patterns in children that spell different kinds of turbulence ahead. Economists look for patterns of spending and saving.
Patterns are essential to perception because if we could not pick out patterns among the sound vibrations we heard or the light vibrations we saw, all the world would be a buzzing white confusion. All animals – and probably plants – have built-in pattern perceivers as part of their innate biological structure. Indeed, pattern perception or pattern recognition is important to the survival of every organism. Our ability to perceive the most subtle of patterns helps us to navigate and understand the world in which we live.
Consider the patterns of clouds; the ways in which water moves; the tracks animals leave; the irregular beating of a heart or the “sticky valve” of a car engine. Each “orderly arrangement of things” allows us to perceive something different about our world. Sometimes the patterns we employ to perceive the world filter out other less familiar patterns, and make us literally blind to new ways of seeing and thinking.
Texture can be understood as simply pattern that is better appreciated with fingers rather than the eyes; textures are really just very small repeated patterns. Very fine patterns or textures feel smooth to the touch. Subtle differences between textures may only be discernable through the sense of touch. Coarser textures may be readily perceived by the eyes–for example, corduroy fabric or the surface of a rasp. When creating a composition that requires intermediary tones, visual texture–such as cross-hatched lines or rubbings (frottage)–can be used to provide interest and richness to a visual field.
Vocabulary
Design process, module, pattern, edge, alignment (unified direction), rotation, axis, symmetry, tangency, gestalt, transition
Reading
Briggs, John and David Peat, Turbulent Mirror, Harper and Row, 1989.
Mandelbrot, Benoit B., The Fractal Geometry of Nature, 1977.
Miller, Mary, “The Practical Fractal,” Exploring Magazine, Vol. 16, No.2, Summer 1992.
Morrison, Phylis and Philip, “Crystalligraphy,” Exploring Magazine, Vol. 16, No.2, Summer 1992.
Stevens, Peter S., Handbook of Regular Patterns, The MIT Press, 1980.
Zaslavsky, Claudia, “Symmetry along with other Mathematical Concepts and Applications in African Life,” Applications in School Mathematics (Yearbook, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Sidney Sharron and Robert Reys, eds.), 1979.
Harris, Mary, “Symmetry and Dissymmetry in Mathematics Education: a View from England,” Leonardo, Vol. 23, 1990. (A challenging feminist look at symmetries, using ‘women’s works’ as examples.)
Research
Sol Lewitt, Islamic architecture, Japanese paper, Navajo Weaving, African textiles (Sudanese, Akwete, Cameroon, Uganda, Ashanti), paving patterns world-wide, early American quilts, Crystallography, Agnes Martin, Bridget Riley, Robert Zakanitch, Louise Despont, Diana Al Hadid, Allan McCollum (Video), Elliott Hundley (Video), Mark Bradford (Video)
