Tonight we will be continue discussing the relationship between "decision making" and abstraction. We will be discussing how your ability to make decisions concerning what will be included and what will be excluded in your work is a product of compartmentalization and abstraction. Inclusion/Exclusion is a type of "editing" is similar creatively to the decisions one makes when re-contextualizing images. As we start our newest drawings we will be appropriating images from the still-life and re-contextualizing them to develop an image based on your creative impulses and ideas.
This semester we will continue to discuss the nature of figure/ground and how your eye perceives boundary.
Below is a very thorough journal that describes how theories of figure/ground have been developed and how the mind perceives what it takes in through the eyes.
http://ruccs.rutgers.edu/~manish/papers/Wagemans_etal_2012_I.pdf
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Figure Ground
We will be discussing the concept of Figure/Ground quite a bit throughout this semester. The prevailing thought is that no form or figure exists in and of itself but is effected and defined by its environment or ground. Objects within a space do not exist independent of one another, but rather, they are interrelated and are necessary parts to define the whole.
Practically this concept effects your drawing in terms of the object. No object that your represent will ever exist on its own but will be effected and informed by its space. We will discuss this often within the context of class.
Here is an article that I found online that describes Gestalt Psychology and the history of figure/ground theory.
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/gestalt.html
Recap: Sept. 3rd - 14th
Over the last two weeks, Drawing 1 has been working on exploring the formal properties of a famous work by a Renaissance artist. Each student brought in an image of a famous Renaissance work that was compelling to them.
The first day of class we discussed what it meant for a work of art "speak" to us or "compel" us. Many of you mentioned how narrative and character portrayal was important while others said the mystery of an image makes work more interesting to investigate, search out. We discussed how historical context can effect the relevance of an image and how work has changed since the Renaissance.
In our work we began dissecting our found images by first recognizing its scale, proportion and the position of the figures through the use of a single, contour line. Your entire drawing was completed in an hour with the use of one single line. Though a frustrating process, many of you found how difficult grappling with proportion can be. After this we discussed the basic use of visual or in this case comparative measurement. In the following drawings students used their pencils and their eye to test the scale of figures and their positions within the image.
Our second drawing was a geometric or planar study. The controls in this drawing were that it must be executed using only basic geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle). Students were forced to simplify their image, discover its essence, if most basic formal properties. Then you were asked to use your value scale to shade the image with flat value tones. Once again this forced you to see the work in its most general terms.
The last drawing took a full week. At this point you were each in a position where you were ready to execute the drawing with exactness.
All three of these images are due today and will be critiqued in two weeks along with your next project.
Thanks.
The first day of class we discussed what it meant for a work of art "speak" to us or "compel" us. Many of you mentioned how narrative and character portrayal was important while others said the mystery of an image makes work more interesting to investigate, search out. We discussed how historical context can effect the relevance of an image and how work has changed since the Renaissance.
In our work we began dissecting our found images by first recognizing its scale, proportion and the position of the figures through the use of a single, contour line. Your entire drawing was completed in an hour with the use of one single line. Though a frustrating process, many of you found how difficult grappling with proportion can be. After this we discussed the basic use of visual or in this case comparative measurement. In the following drawings students used their pencils and their eye to test the scale of figures and their positions within the image.
Our second drawing was a geometric or planar study. The controls in this drawing were that it must be executed using only basic geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle). Students were forced to simplify their image, discover its essence, if most basic formal properties. Then you were asked to use your value scale to shade the image with flat value tones. Once again this forced you to see the work in its most general terms.
The last drawing took a full week. At this point you were each in a position where you were ready to execute the drawing with exactness.
All three of these images are due today and will be critiqued in two weeks along with your next project.
Thanks.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
A Broad History of Abstraction
This week we began discussing the stylistic differences between historical art movements both in content and and aesthetics.The intention of the following paragraphs is to give you an extremely broad context for certain departures from realistic renderings over the last several centuries. Abstraction is nothing new and is in fact as old as mankind. It has a rich history full of inexhaustible intentions. Please note that I am only attempting to briefly explain the reasons for monumental shifts over the last 500 years that effected western society specifically. This is not intended to explain abstraction or its philosophy but simply to give reasons for stylistic changes within art, specifically painting and sculpture.
In the western world, in centuries prior to the 1400's, art was primarily made as a reflection of spiritual or social constructs made in response to political structures or authoritarian commission. Imagery at times was propagandistic, mythological or decorative in nature and generally portrayed types of abstracted human and animalistic figures.
It wasn't until the European Renaissance that the ideal of representationalism became the focus of artists. The Renaissance was a time of innovation in technology and sciences. During this period their was a turning away from religion (not in theme but in personal practice) and a greater focus on social-interest and the progress of the sciences. Across the board artists had a desire to depict real-life with a sense of awe for the biology of the human form as well as nature & architectures mathematical properties.
Paolo Vernese, The Wedding of Cana
Representationalim is the deptiction of the natural world the way it is seen. In other words, when artists make artwork, they make it with the intention of capturing it accurately.
Several hundred years later (forgive the broad neglect of chronology and progress), with the invention of the camera, artists found reasons to make artwork that focused less on specificity of depiction and more on the "essence of reality". Artist began departing from the literal representation and began abstracting (departure from whats seen and the employment of categorical devices) the natural world around them. Abstraction is art that may or may not refer to reality but strives to represent thoughts, ideas and emotions through the alteration of reality.
Many contemporaries of Picasso and other abstract artists were not satisfied by using basic abstraction to depict the essence of reality. Artists throughout the last 120 years have departed completely from realism by working in pure abstraction or non-objective styles. Non-objectivism is based on artist pure imagination and creative impulses and has no overt visual connections to reality. Many artists have and continue to use pure abstraction (non-objectivism) as a way of creating work. See some examples below.
It is important to note that each stylistic movement continues to be explored within the context of a contemporary dialog. Artists are constantly recontextualizing, re-working, deconstructing and re-theorizing previous ideas and methods.
Kandinsky, Comp 8
Willem De Koonig
Jackson Pollock working on one of his floor paintings.
Jackson Pollock, #8
ASSIGNMENT: After reading the post, find three images that reflect each of the three stylistic differences (not necessarily from the eras discussed). In the comments section, post a link to each of the three images along with the name of the artist, work and time period.
Images can be found by using a search engine or going to museum websites. Below is a list of a few museums that have sites with lots of images.
http://www.moma.org/
http://www.guggenheim.org/
http://www.tate.org.uk/
http://www.googleartproject.com/
In the western world, in centuries prior to the 1400's, art was primarily made as a reflection of spiritual or social constructs made in response to political structures or authoritarian commission. Imagery at times was propagandistic, mythological or decorative in nature and generally portrayed types of abstracted human and animalistic figures.
It wasn't until the European Renaissance that the ideal of representationalism became the focus of artists. The Renaissance was a time of innovation in technology and sciences. During this period their was a turning away from religion (not in theme but in personal practice) and a greater focus on social-interest and the progress of the sciences. Across the board artists had a desire to depict real-life with a sense of awe for the biology of the human form as well as nature & architectures mathematical properties.
Paolo Vernese, The Wedding of Cana
Representationalim is the deptiction of the natural world the way it is seen. In other words, when artists make artwork, they make it with the intention of capturing it accurately.
Several hundred years later (forgive the broad neglect of chronology and progress), with the invention of the camera, artists found reasons to make artwork that focused less on specificity of depiction and more on the "essence of reality". Artist began departing from the literal representation and began abstracting (departure from whats seen and the employment of categorical devices) the natural world around them. Abstraction is art that may or may not refer to reality but strives to represent thoughts, ideas and emotions through the alteration of reality.
Another reason for this evolution was the affordability of painting supplies and the artists freedom from the "commission" work. Artists could make more personal work because they were no longer tied to the demands of other individuals. Artists began experimenting with the placement of forms, color, medium as a reflection of personal thought as well as the excitement of experimentation.
Many artists in the early 20th Century were talented at representationalism but chose or grew into abstraction as a more creative way of expressing ideas. Pablo Picasso is a well-known 20th Century artist that worked in both representationalism and abstraction. See some of his progression and diversity below. Notice how the early work was more representational but over time he abstracted the human form by depicting it with geometric shapes, pattern and eccentric color.
Many contemporaries of Picasso and other abstract artists were not satisfied by using basic abstraction to depict the essence of reality. Artists throughout the last 120 years have departed completely from realism by working in pure abstraction or non-objective styles. Non-objectivism is based on artist pure imagination and creative impulses and has no overt visual connections to reality. Many artists have and continue to use pure abstraction (non-objectivism) as a way of creating work. See some examples below.
It is important to note that each stylistic movement continues to be explored within the context of a contemporary dialog. Artists are constantly recontextualizing, re-working, deconstructing and re-theorizing previous ideas and methods.
Kandinsky, Comp 8
Willem De Koonig
Jackson Pollock working on one of his floor paintings.
Jackson Pollock, #8
ASSIGNMENT: After reading the post, find three images that reflect each of the three stylistic differences (not necessarily from the eras discussed). In the comments section, post a link to each of the three images along with the name of the artist, work and time period.
Images can be found by using a search engine or going to museum websites. Below is a list of a few museums that have sites with lots of images.
http://www.moma.org/
http://www.guggenheim.org/
http://www.tate.org.uk/
http://www.googleartproject.com/
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