Exercise to the 5th Lecture

Shape — Handwork

General guidance

Design the exercises in an abstract, non–objective way … that is concrete. That way we won’t have problems with “meanings” and we will see primarily the art.

Old analog media have an absolute advantage in implementation. Mostly drawing, collage… You take an image and upload the product to an online classroom.
However, make sure the footage is of good quality; straight papers, parallel edges without perspective distortion, and above all good lighting. Post processing is also possible on a computer.
However, all the themes are adapted to work with the computer.

I use equivalent terms of shape and form. They have the same meaning. I just want to make a clear distinction between the form you have to choose, create, or as required by the task, and the shapes that emerge at work, or the shapes that are already a property of everything that is visible

You submit all the pages of the exercise in a single common acrobat — pdf data file.
File name: name_surname_5.pdf
Image size (height) 1080 x (width) 1920 px.

Figure and ground

The relationship between the figure and the ground forms a visible perception. I always see the object (shape, form) in relation to what surrounds it (background or ground) – letters to the page, building to the surroundings, statue to the space inside and around, the object of the photo to the format… We can not see black shapes on a black background; without distinction and contrast the form disappears.

Humans are used to see the background as passive and irrelevant to the subject. Art creators, on the contrary, pay attention to the spaces between and behind the elements, discovering their power in shaping the experience. The background also has its own shape and requirements.

Graphic designers often seek a balance between object and background in order to bring energy and order to form and space. They build contrasts between form and its coumter to create icons, illustrations, logos, compositions and patterns. Using contrast or its opposite they add visible energy to the image or sign. The slightest ambiguity can weaken the result and change direction or effect.

I also know the subject and background as a positive and negative space. In the art world, I simply cannot avoid this relationship. When I design logos and symbols, I transform complex meanings into simple, clean shapes that clearly express content. While designing posters, layouts, and scenes with everything I omit, I balance the rest. Similarly, in the media, which primarily expresses human attitude towards time, including books, I change perception and pace by inserting and arranging spaces over time.

The ability to create and judge the effective tension between subject and background is a fundamental virtue of any artist. Therefore, I have to train to create an empty space when arranging shapes, to be careful about distinguishing between positive and negative areas when determining the scale of heterogeneous objects (images and text). I have to pay attention to the shapes created by the elements, if their edges create a void that is as attractive as the shapes themselves. Let’s say the darker the shape, the more clearly it is defined against the other brighter elements.

When I work with a figure and ground, I have all the power to create or destroy a shape.

The relationship between the figure and the ground is stable when the shape is clearly separated from its background. Something is going on in the format. Characteristic of comon photography.

When the figure and the ground equally attract our view, I get a reversible, two–way relationship. The subject and the background alternate: first we see in the foreground the object, then it’s background. The subject alternates it’s role with the background. For instance in patterns.

Compositions based on an unclear relationship between the figure and the ground challenge the observer to find the focal point. The figure is mixed with the ground, the obserwer’s eye is mingling across the surface without being able to rely on a dominant point. For instance cubist images follow this procedure.

Tasks

5—1

Abstrakcija oblik

5—1a Take 1920 pixels large format. Create a composition with a single form (shape). Observe shapes and their counters.

5—1b Isolate just the right size of each form (crop) that will still suggest to its identity. Look for a balance between positive and negative space. Create six compositions

5—2

5—2a Select some contrasting (opposing) forms. Choose the forms of the first part of the exercise, which are different in weight (weight is, for instance, thickness), geometry and complexity

5—2b Take 1920 pixels large format. Compose the forms of the first part of the exercise into dynamic compositions. Proceed from the details of the shapes, thus emphasizing their anatomical and stylistic particuliarities. Use the relation of the figure and the ground and contrast (opose) and blend shapes with each other. Crop, combine, repeat, rotate, zoom in and out the shapes, and try to achieve both separation (clarity) and interweaving (complexity). Make Take 1920 pixels large format. Compose the forms of the first part of the exercise into dynamic compositions. Proceed from the details of the shapes, thus emphasizing their anatomical and stylistic particuliarities. Use the relation of the figure and the ground and contrast (opose) and blend shapes with each other. Crop, combine, repeat, rotate, zoom in and out the shapes, and try to achieve both separation (clarity) and interweaving (complexity). Make two compositions compositions.

I would reasonably relate to the exercise following the 7th lecture when it comes to isometric transformations (in the plane) – patterns

Above all, the two parts of the exercise should be linked. All the immages should look uniform.

Ura
Fig. 1: State Machines Logo