1 6 gateways-to_art2e_final

Editor's Notes

• #3: Artists use the principle of unity to link visual elements to each other in a composition Variety is expressed in contrast and difference, which create visual interest and excitement An artist can create a sense of unity by imposing a grid structure Balance in visual art is much like the balance we experience in real life
• #5: Experienced artists learn to restrict the range of elements in their compositions
• #6: Although A is unified, it lacks the visual interest of B While C is a unified work, its visual variety feels incoherent and chaotic
• #9: Mount Fuji (A), in the middle of the bottom third of the work, almost blends into the ocean Whitecaps on the waves (B) mimic the snow atop Mount Fuji The shape and placement of the boats create a pattern among the waves Hokusai has carefully selected the solids and voids to create opposing but balancing areas of interest As the solid shape of the great wave curves around the deep trough below it (C), the two areas compete for attention, neither one possible without the other
• #14: Russian artist Marie Marevna (1892–1984) shows us the seltzer bottle from the side, while we look down at the tabletop from above Uses the texture of the paint, hard diagonal lines, and dominant gray-brown color to counteract the potentially excessive variety
• #16: Renaissance artists, such as Piero della Francesca (c. 1415–1492), understood the importance of unity and limiting the number of different elements in a work This scene depicts Christ, before his crucifixion, being flogged by his captors The figures in the foreground—whose identities are not known—seem oblivious to what is going on behind them The composition emphasizes a mood of detachment and contemplation, rather than tension and violence The figure in the background on the far left could be Pontius Pilate, symbolizing a Byzantine Emperor witnessing the suffering of the Church during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453
• #18: African-American artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988) captures the unity of New York The underlying grid is composed of the verticals and horizontals found in the building, street, and streetposts Three points create a sense of depth and stabilize the bustling street scene: the cat in the lower left, the woman’s feet in the lower right, and the dove at the top center
• #19: For example, an artist wishing to communicate the feeling of flight can use such symbols as feathers, kites, or balloons On the other hand, sometimes an artist may deliberately contradict linkages between ideas The conceptual links that artists make between symbols and ideas derive from the collective experiences of their culture: this too influences the viewer’s interpretation of the work
• #22: Joseph Cornell’s (1903–1972) work suggests mysterious ideas and elusive feelings In Untitled (The Hotel Eden), although the interior is a protected place, neither the bird nor the ball is free The artist has fused his memories, dreams, and visualizations
• #23: We get a sense of gestalt when we comprehend how compositional unity and conceptual unity work together
• #26: According to some Sanskrit texts (ancient Indian language), the existence and creation of the universe is dependent on the god Vishnu, who is sheltered by the great serpent Ananta and sleeps on the Cosmic Sea Through Vishnu’s sleep, the universe is reborn over and over This stone carving illustrates Hindu pantheism (the unity of many gods as one) Brahma is the upper figure seated on a lotus that sprouts from Vishnu’s navel Shiva, riding a bull (Nandi), is at Brahma’s left; Shiva is both creator and destroyer Lakshmi, Vishnu’s wife, attends her sleeping husband The dualities of male/female, life/death, good/evil are illustrated in the complex stories of the gods
• #27: Unity is about repetition and similarity; variety is about uniqueness and diversity Artists use a multiplicity of values, textures, colors, and so on to intensify the impact of a work The example in 1.6.10 shows a composition of shapes set into a rectangular grid Even though the grid structure is predictable, the variety of shapes and values counteracts the rigid structure
• #30: American Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) took painting “off the wall” The goat, an ancient symbol of male lust and a Christian symbol of souls cast out from salvation, becomes the totem of the artist’s own provocative behaviors and his violation of art-world conventions The stuffed goat penetrates the tire and stands atop the painting (a symbol of the established art world) while defecating a dirty tennis ball
• #34: These fiber works are made from new pieces of fabric (not leftover scraps), a reflection of the wealth of the port city, Baltimore
• #35: Finding visual weight and counterweight is a challenge for the artist Dark and light, although opposites, can act as counterbalances Large shapes or forms can be countered by groups of smaller shapes or forms For many artists this process is intuitive
• #37: Because it is a part of our physical body, symmetry can seem very natural
• #39: Used since the Shang Dynasty (1766–1122 bce) According to some accounts, the t’ao t’ieh mask represents a monster that, through its own gluttony, is devouring itself: a warning against overindulgence In the bronze ritual container the creature can be found by identifying a pair of perfectly round “eyes” on either side of a central vertical axis Some of the mirrored patterns signify horns, claws, fangs, ears, and even smaller images of animals If you look carefully you may see two rams’ heads in profile
• #40: Can be compared to an old-fashioned scale A heavy object on one side can be balanced by several lighter objects on the other side, as long as the weight on both sides is the same Also called dynamic balance
• #42: The artist, thirteenth-century Zen Buddhist monk Muqi, expresses balanced asymmetry He creates subtle variations in the placement of the persimmons on each side of the central axis On the right are two large dark shapes with a heavy visual weight, one of which overlaps a light shape On the left there is one light shape and two dark shapes, one of which is placed lower down the page For Muqi, the use of brush and ink was a form of meditation, through simple, thoughtful actions, in search of higher knowledge Although it looks simple, the arrangement is a thoughtful arrangement of “perfect” symmetry
• #44: Shah Jahan (1592–1666), the fifth Mughal Emperor of India, created the Taj Mahal to honor the memory of his third and beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal (1593–1661) In most cases, symmetry suggests pleasing tranquility, order, and numerical perfection to the viewer Its use in the proportions of the design carries associations of beauty and stability
• #46: The entire complex includes: the central mausoleum and four minarets, a meeting house, a mosque, two pavilions, a gatehouse, two plaza areas, and a grand garden Additional areas adjacent and across the Yamuna River also share the same characteristics of balance
• #48: Symmetry exists not only along the bilateral axis, but also along the two principal intersecting axes The complete design reflects Shah Jahan’s commitment to perfection, shared by his architects Abdul-Karim Ma’mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri
• #49: Although the term “radial” suggests a round shape, any geometric shape can be used Sometimes used in religious symbols and architecture where repetition plays an important role in the design
• #51: Created by Tibetan Buddhist monks The square in the center symbolizes Amitayus, or the Buddha of long life, and surrounds a central lotus blossom The careful deconstruction of the work after it has been completed symbolizes the impermanence of the world