Reading Assignment Summary (8/27) - Gestalt, Principles, and Form/Compositions

Gestalt Theory


Translated from german, gestalt means entire figure or configuration. The meaning of gestalt can best be descibed as the whole is understood to be different from the sum of its parts.

Four Aspects of Gestalt

• Closure
• Continuance
• Proximity
• Similarity

Interpretation of Form
Visual element interact through position, direction and space.
       Position - a placement of an element with another. Examples of this are overlapping and     touching elements.
       Direction - a course of movement. Horizontal and vertical lines give off the sense of direction.
       Space - areas between and around elements that can be both dominant and important in a composition (negative space).

Depth - can create contrast in both 2D and 3D compositions. It can also help form the composition's purpose and meaning.

Perspective - created through the use of lines to create 3D forms and concepts on a flat, 2D surface. Linear perspective is a fairly common use of perspective.

Symmetry - Form has symmetry when it can be divided diagonally or vertically and the other side is the same shape. It creates a stable and balanced form.

Asymmetry - Basically the opposite of symmetry. When folded over, the sides do not match up. It creates an active form, letting your eyes float around the composition.

Formal Matters

Content - Form is actually content and vice versa. It is that which it expressed or made manifest through form.

A shape or form that does not really look like anything but that reminds us of other things adds those identity to it. This slippage of identity can be called poetics of meaning.

 A Painting's Internal Logic - Line, Color, Composition, and Fields.

 A Painting's External Logic - Edges, Scale, and Format.

Elements of Design

• Conceptual Elements - Point, Line, Plane, and Volume
• Visual Elements - Shape, Size, Color, and Texture
• Relational Elements - Direction, Position, Space, and Gravity
• Practical Elements - Representation, Meaning and Function

Form

Main characteristics of a point: should be comparatively small and its shape should be rather simple.

Three separate aspects considered in a line

1. The overall shape - straight, curved, irregular or hand-drawn.
2. The body - contained within two edges
3. The extremities - may be square, round or pointed depending on the thickness of the line

Planar forms have a variety of shapes: Geometric, Organic, Rectilinear, Irregular and Accidental

Interrelationships of Forms - Detachment, Touching, Overlapping, Interpenetration, Union, Subtraction, Intersection and Coinciding.