2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   FALL 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

Sections          101. MW     9-10:50am   Arts 2628

            102. MW     1-2:50pm          Arts 2628

            103. TR    9-11:50am    Arts 2628

            104. TR     11-12:50pm  Arts 2628

 

 

"One side of the system is critical; the other is...celebration. Everything

is validated through images. People believe in this power-they are used to

images being manipulated, and being manipulated themselves, by images."

Mariko Mori

 

Because our field of vision is an analog to the flat picture plane, studies

in 2-D are critical to our understanding of how we experience and interpret

vision. Using examples from art history, contemporary practice, popular

culture and print/broadcast culture, we will explore the primacy and

fluidity of vision, the mechanics of form, and the role of imagination and

context in the making and viewing of images.

 

We will address the different aspects of 2-dimensional images, in their

production and influence, with the plasticity they deserve. We'll assume

the symbiosis of form and content while using a variety of approaches and

media (drawing, painting, print, photography, signage, digital) to

elaborate fundamental concerns of space, color and context. And though the

course is intensely structured, it does weave issues in and out; putting

you in the active position of synthesizing the material towards more

informed choices in your looking and making. In order to do that it is

required that you keep your projects and sketch book up to date, take notes

in lecture, read all class texts (including those in the reader, in

Understanding Comics, the on-line references, and the on-line lecture/slide

notes), ask questions, and importantly, be inventive with your work.

 

Attendance, Grades, Homework:

The structure of the class is a weekly slide lecture + twice weekly studio

(art-making) sections.

The non-negotiable attendance requirements: You may miss only 1 lecture,

and may not exceed a total of 3 missed classes. A 4th absence with an

excellent excuse will bring grade down 1/2 point. Missing 2 lectures will

drop grade one full point. 5 total absences or more than 2 missed lectures

and you cannot pass the class. Late appearances accumulate towards

absences, with 3 lates = 1 absence. Grades will be based on studio projects

and class participation (50%), and an end of quarter written final (50%),

mitigated by attendance. Any attempt to falsify attendance records will

mean an immediate F for the entire course.  You can expect to spend an

average of 12 hours per week doing out of class work including reading.

Details of projects will be tailored to and outlined in each section. You

are expected to keep a visual journal/sketchbook in conjunction to studio

projects.

 

 

S P A C E

 

 

Week 1            INTRODUCTION

Introduction to instructors, supplies, course structure and requirements,

art resources on campus, S.B., L. A.

Purchase supplies at bookstore, reader at AS notes, Understanding Comics at

the Bookstore.

 

The fluidity of vision

Visual perception as a dominant descriptive sense

Slippage in reality and its representation

Learning through slides vs. actual work

Flat space

Illusionistic space

Realism and Representation

Abstraction

Non-objective images

 

Studio Projects: Shape Shifter. A 4 step project.

step 1. Draw in pencil from still life arrangement.

step 2. Make an abstract drawing in pencil of your still life drawing.

step 3. Make a 3-d object from your abstraction.

step 4. Draw in crayon your object.

Supplies needed: pencils, crayons, paper, scissors, misc. supplies (wire,

paper, paper mache, plaster, sculpting, tin foil, styro, etc.)

Project objectives: drawing from observation, presenting representation &

abstraction, working experimentally  through an idea, image, relationship,

the slippage between 2-d and 3-d.

reading:

Daniel Chandler

Visual Perception ("The Search For Petterns" section is in the reader)

in association with University of Edinburgh, Heriot University read the

entire illustrated text on-line

<http://www.aber.ac.uk/education/Undgrad/ED10510/visper01.html>

Peter K. Kaiser

The Joy of Visual Perception  access this on-line

<http://www.yorku.ca/eye/>

Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,

Chapter 2 - The Vocabulary of Comics

Kitchen Sink Press 1993

 

 

Week 2            THE ORGANIZATION OF SPACE- COMPOSITION AND FORM

The picture plane and frame

Scale and Proportion

Discreet shapes and Overlapping (layering), transparency

Light-dark

Symmetry, Asymmetry, the Diagonal, S-Curve, Golden Section, Grid, Figure

and Ground, Hierarchical and Random Space

Negative and Positive Space

Cropping

 

Studio Projects: Giving Form to Qualities.

1. Make 10 6"x6" compositions using black cut paper on white to evoke the

following: balance, depth, chaos, out-of-balance, calm, empty, dynamic,

tense, energetic, overwhelmed. As an additional step, make a drawing that

only uses but reconfigures (some or all of) the positive and negative

shapes you created in the above b/w compositions. You may change the scale

of the shapes, but do not use color.

2. Using tracing paper and rectangular viewfinder of any proportion,

isolate an area on a pre-existing image (photograph, magazine, etc.) and

draw shapes/lines you see. Identify salient compositional aspects of your

tracing. Do this with 3 different images.

3. Using tracing paper with a new viewfinder whose shape is arrived at by a

random physical process (i.e.spill coffee and cut hole/s where stains

occur), construct a complex hierarchical composition. Use 3 new

pre-exsiting image sources for the tracing. A hierarchical composition is

where the viewer can identify some items as more important than others; in

a way, you are guiding the viewer in how to see your image.

New supplies needed: xacto knife, glue stick, ruler, black/white papers,

tracing paper

Project objectives: visualize and articulate non-tangible qualities in 2-D

form, basic compositional aspects (balance, tension, visual weight,

dynamism, proportion, scale, cropping), imaginative results from limited

resources, editing pre-existing sources.

reading:

Edwin A. Abbott

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

Harper Collins 1983

 

 

Week 3            THE ORGANIZATION OF SPACE- FLAT SPACE, LINE, SHAPE, FORM,

SIGNS, ICON

Flat Space

Line- Weight, and Line as Value (cross hatch, etc.), the Association with

Intellect, Mark-Making

Diagrammatic Lines, Maps, Architectural, Contour

Gesture (using and observing the body), Expressive, Calligraphic Line

Shape- Negative and Positive space

Planes and Shapes, Stencils, Graphic Shapes

Fractured Representation

Signs

Icons

 

video: Oscar Fishinger, The Films of Oskar Fishinger,  excerpts from

animated shorts dating from the late 1920's to the early 1950's, published

in 1998 by Jack Rutberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

 

Studio Projects:

1. drawings: blind & modified contour, negative space definition of object,

gestural, scratchboard line as value.

2. Invent and make a new sign that uses an icon. Identify the signified and

signifier. Draw it first in pencil or ink, then translate that drawing to a

new one executed in color pencil or marker.

New supplies needed: paper, erasers, scratchboard, scribe tool

(awl/needle), color drawing tools and misc. as needed for sign.

Project objectives: see shapes rather than (knowable, analyzable) objects,

line as definition, capture of bodily gestures, imaginative construction of

a space, variety in representation, basic semiotics of images.

reading:

Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,

Chapter 5 - Living in Line

Kitchen Sink Press 1993

Daniel Chandler

Semiotics For Beginners:Signs

in association with University of Edinburgh, Heriot University on-line

publication

<http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html >

 

 

Week 4            THE RE- ORGANIZATION OF SPACE-

            ILLUSIONISTIC SPACE, REALISM, LIGHT, VOLUME, VALUE,

PERSPECTIVE & THE

            POWER OF BELIEF

Illusionistic Space and Realism

Perspective-

Atmospheric Perspective (color and value in)

Linear (mathematical) Perspective- 1, 2, 3 point; achievement through

overlapping, scale, point of view, vanishing points, horizon, eye level,

orthogonal lines, foreshortening; positioning yourself & the viewer

Subjective and Imaginative Perspective, Interpenetration of Planes

The Use of Light- Value, Chiaroscuro, Shading, Lighting, Mood, the Power of

Illusion

Texture

Flesh- In Life,  Death, and in the Imagination

 

Studio Projects:

1. Using part or all of a composition from week 2, draw a new one that

imagines those flat shapes as dimensional by the use of value and texture.

2. 1 & 2 point perspective outdoor (include some architecture) drawings in

pencil.

3. Set up a scene to photograph. Make 3 photographs of that same scene that

use different lighting (only one of those may be a color or gel light

source) to evoke diffent ideas/feelings.

New supplies needed: paper, some photographic device such as a disposible,

polaroid,  35mm, lighting (spot, flood, directional, etc)

Project objectives: learn the effects of value and texture, 1 & 2 point

perspective, effects of natural and artificial lighting.

reading:

Keith West

Basic Perspective For Artists, excerpts

Watson-Guptill Publications 1995

Lawrence Weschler The Looking Glass, The New Yorker,  January 31, 2000

Robert Cumming <http://www.moma.org/onlineprojects/cumming> interactive

drawing/perspective

SodaPlay on-line interactive perspective modeling

<http://sodaplay.com/index.htm>

 

 

C O L O R

 

 

Week 5            COLOR THEORY- HOW WE SEE COLOR

Seeing Color, Wavelengths

Subtractive and Additive Color Systems- Pigment and Light, Paint and Emulsion

RYB,  CMYK, RGB

Hue, Value (tints and shades), Saturation/Intensity

Primaries, Secondaries,  Tertiaries

Complementary Color, Split Complements

Simultaneous Contrast, Contrast

Local Color, Analogous Color, Warm/Cool, Subjective Color, Monochrome,

Harmony, Tints, Florescents & Day-glo

Color in Print (in halftones and spot color)

Digital Color

 

video: Oliver Saks, How We See Color, excerpt on photographic color, 1998

PBS broadcast

video: Glenn McKay,  Altered States, excerpt, 1960's-70's psychedelic club

projections

 

Studio Projects:

1. 3 Paint Strips: Monochrome, Simultaneous Contrast, Analogous Color (do

NOT paint a color wheel)

2. Using acrylic paints, paint your own radial composition that aspires to

be a mandala or cosmology. You must use and identify at least 6 aspects of

color theory that we cover in class.

New supplies needed: color wheel, acrylic paints & mixing tray, brush(es),

water jar, water tolerant paper

Project objectives: basic color theory- RYB paint pigments,

primaries/secondaries, complements, simultaneous contrast, the creation of

a meaning through color.

reading:

Johannes Itten

The Elements of Color, excerpts,  Introduction, Color Physics

Van Nostrand Reinhold 1970

Scott McCloud

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,

Chapter 8 - A Word About Color

Kitchen Sink Press 1993

Cary Wolinsky

The Quest For Color

National Geographic, Vol.196, No. 1, July 1999, pp. 72-93

Peter Halley <http://www.moma.org/onlineprojects/halley/index.html>

interactive color experimentation

J. Scruggs <http://www.bway.net/~jscruggs/notice2.html> Color Theory web page

J.L. Morton <http://www.colormatters.com/>, sociolgical effects of color, etc.

Don Jusko <http://www.mauigateway.com/~donjusko/1artists.htm>, history of

pigments, color in art

 

Week 6            COLOR IN USE

Review of color in pigment, paint, ink and light

Color and Meaning

Symbolic,  as Attributed to the Feminine, Emotive and Irrational

Color in Media

Rainbows, Gradients

Motif, Certainty and Insanity in Pattern, Pattern and Decoration

Red (danger/sexuality), Yellow (journalism),  Blue (moods)

 

video: Ingmar Bergman, excerpt from Cries and Whispers,  1972,

 

Studio Project:

1. Using pencil, graphite or crayon, take a rubbing off an industrial

material; next derive a pattern from it in the form of a black ink drawing.

2. Color relief print: using the pattern you made, place it under and

redraw it on to a piece of plexiglass, turn plexi upside down and use lines

as a template to gouge out the pattern with a scribe tool for a drypoint

print, or build up a shallow surface (with tape, etc) for a relief print.

New supplies needed: plexiglass piece, tape, etc. paper - newsprint +?,

work apron or shirt.

Project objectives: basic ink and color in a printing process,

transformation of an image through 3 steps.

reading:

Charles A. Riley II

The Palette and the Table, from Color Codes: Modern Theories of Color in

Philosophy, Painting and Architecture, Literature, Music, and Psychology

University Press of New England 1995

Michael Rock and Pamela Hovland

Colored Lenses: The Rise of Color in the Media, from The News Aesthetic

The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, The Cooper Union

School of Art 1995

Peter S Stevens

Handbook of Regular Patterns: An Introduction to Symmetry in Two

Dimensions, excerpts

MIT Press 1981

<http://www.grand-illusions.com/index.htm>  optical illusions

<http://www.jodi.org> great net-specific art featuring patterns

<http://www.jodi.org/401/U.html>

 

 

 

 

CONTEXT

 

 

2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   Fall 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

 

Lecture #7 Notes

 

Week 7            WHAT AND WHEN- OPTICAL AND INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT

Repetition, Serial Imagery

Visual Language, Expressive 'Experimental' Typography

Text in Art

Narrative Systems- Episodic, Linear/Sequential, Non-Linear

 

video: opening credits from the film: The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1996, John

Frankenheimer

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

1. Bruce Conner, from opening sequence of Looking For Mushrooms",

1959-1970, 16mm film, 100'

2. Wallace Berman, Untitled (Multi-Color Shuffle), 1969, verifax collage

and acrylic 13x14"

3. Bruce Conner, Sound of Two Handed Angel, 1974, 88x37", and Blessing

Angel, 1975, photogram 85x39"

4. Bruce Conner,Night Angel, 1975,  and  Angel Light, 1975, both photogram

85x39"

5. Andy Warhol, Elvis I and II, 1964, synthetic polymer paint and

silkscreen 208.3cm square

6. Andy Warhol, 200 Cambells Soup Cans, 1962, acrylic, 72x100"

7. Andy Warhol, from Skulls series, c.1980, acrylic and silkscreen

8. Andy Warhol, Lavender Disaster, 1963, acrylic and silkscreen, 106x82"

9. Lorna Simpson, Easy for Who to Say, 1989, 5 polaroids w/10 plastic

plaques, 31x115"

10. Bernd and Hilla Becher, Typology of Half Timbered Houses, 1959-74,

gelatin silver photographs 40x31cm each

 

 Repetition and Serial imagery: the use of repeated, identical or near

identical images

 _______________________________________________________________________________

 

11. Luca Paccioli, from Divina Proportione, 1509

12. N. Goncharova, cover for The City, 1920

13. Various typefaces

14. Various typefaces

 

 Typography: "Text " is what the words means, "Type" is what it looks like.

 Serif and Sans Serif typefaces (a typeface is the visual font or totality

of the characters in a particular style)

 _______________________________________________________________________________

 

15. Unknown Chinese typography

16. Unknown Persian typography

17. Jean Pucelle, The Miracle of the Breviary, from the Hours of Jeanne

d'Evreux, 1324-28

18. Unknown illuminated manuscript page with decorative capital

19.   Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay, folio # 15 from Mira

Calligraphiae Monumenta (Model Book       of Calligraphy), produced between

the mid and late 16th century

20.   1639 decorative script with flourishes making drawings ,

writing+pictures

 

antiquarian typography- in the European arts when printing became a viable

option for the dissemination of  information  is  the same moment when

calligraphy was free to become an art form in order  to maintain relevance.

Much like today's forms of printing reproduction being taken over by

artistic expression in light of digital means to distribute information.

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

21.   Francis Picabia, Dada Movement Chart, 1919

22. Filippo T. Marinetti, from  the Futurist Words-in-Freedom, c.1915,

collage, ink on paper

23.   El Lissitzsky & Vladamir Mayakovsky, DJA Colossa, 1923 book

24.   Kurt Schwitters, Katy Steinitz, Theo Van Doesburg, from Die

Scheuche Marchen, 1925 book

25.   Unknown artist , example of Concrete Poetry

26.   Kenneth Patchen, from Sleepers Awake, c.1950

 

Radical typography, typography as image, in early 20th century movements

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

27.   Frederick Barthelme, Untitled (Instead of Making Art I filled Out

This Form), 1970, double page       spread, offset

28. Joseph Kosuth, part of series "Art as Idea as Idea, c. 1967, and, On

Kawara, Title, 1965, Liqutex on canvas, and,  Lawrence Weiner, c. 1970

29. Robert Indiana, Alabama, 1965

30. Jenny Holzer, Raise Boys and Girls the Same Way, 1987, Jumbotron sign

31. Lawrence Weiner, outdoor installation at Regen Projects, Los Angeles,

CA, 1999

32. Mike Kelly, Trash Picker, c.1995, felt banner approx. 6'x3'

33. Kay Rosen, Tide, 1994, sign paint 25x33.5"

34. Kay Rosen, 1984-5, sign paint on museum board 17x11" each

35. George Legrady, Words and Words, 1998, ink jet 24x30"

36. Pat Ward Williams, Accused/Blowtorch/Padlock, 1990, magazine photos,

silver prints window frame, text in paint

37. Mary Kelly, from Interim, 1986, photo and silkscreen

38. Susan Hiller, from Sisters of Menon, 1983 book, 11.5x7.5"

39. Genevieve Seille, Navigational Pathways (Appendix), 1992, mixed media

11.5x8x2.5"

40. Street tagging/writing

41. Charles Gaines, Submerged Text: Signifiers of Race #1, 1991, acrylic on

wall 144x348"

42. Micah Lexier, Self Portrait as a Wall, 1998, paint on wall

43. Hilary Leone and L. Macdonald, unknown title. C.1990, sandpaper "AIDS/SIDA

44. Ching-Ying Man, Reunification, I am Very HappyŠ, 1997 installation

45. Daniel J. Martinez, Pains of Power, 1992, computer generated drawing

for Now Times mag

46. Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground), 1989, poster

for the March on Washington

47. Sister Corita Kent, Yellow Submarine, 1965, silkscreen approx. 20x30

48. Erika Rothenberg, Capital Punishment, 1992, gouche, twine, acrylic

shelves 25x24"

49. Mitchell Syrop, How Do I Look, 1990, torn offset litho poster 56x40"

50. Karen Carson, Birth Death Thank You Sandwich, 1994 vinyl painting

51. Bruce Nauman, Help Me Hurt Me, unknown date, print

52. Bruce Nauman, Violence Violins, c.1980, neon

53. Ed Rusha, Words Without Thoughts Never Go To Heaven, c.1985, oil

54. Ed Rusha, Sex, c.1985, oil

55. Ed Rusha, The Act of Letting a Person into Your Home, c.1985, oil

56. Ed Rusha, Air, Motor, Lips, all 1970, gunpowder and pastel on paper

57.   Roni Horn, When Dickenson Shot Her Eyes no. 1027, 1993

58. Crispin Glover, Oak Mot, 1993, offset book, altered then reproduced,

page spread 7.5x10.5"

59. Alexis Smith, Eight Ball, 1988, mixed media 28.5x24"

60. Ram Dass, from Be Here Now, 1971 book,

 

Art work that uses typography both visually and conceptually

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

61.   Unknown artists, art  projects with text, mixed media, c.1998

62.   Peter Anderson, Platon, Claire Todd, fashion/

typography/photography experiment

63. Kenneth Patchen, hand painted, then reproduced book cover, The King of

Toys.etc.

64. Ad Reinhardt, How to Look at an Artist #4, c.1950

65. Street signage, machine made and hand made

66. Walker Evans, Havana, 1932 photograph

67. Rudy Vanderlans, Pink Cliffs Village  road sign

68. Comercial, market signage

69. The typeface "Matrix" on a footballl field

70. Designer typefaces for Circle K and Macdonalds

71. David Carson, spread from Surfer magazine, 1991, offset

72. David Carson, spread from Ray Gun, 1994, offset 12x20"

73. Unknown artist, The Best Show in '64, concert promotion poster, 1964

74. Rick Griffin, Grateful Dead poster, 1969

75. Rock and Roll posters, 1967, Bib Brother and the Holding Company, et al

76. Jim Shaw, Cease to Exist, Easter on My Brain, Identity Crisis, Space,

1987-89, mixed media on paper 17x14" each

 

 Various images featuring typography, rock & roll promotion

 _______________________________________________________________________________

 

77. Margo Johnson, from Fast Forward, 1993 offset book

78. Mike Fink, cover for Framework magazine, v.6, issue 2, 1993, offset 11x8.5"

79. Cornel Windlin, Foster's Ice Beer sign design through different

incarnations, client (dis)approval

80. Jodi Zellen, The City Never Sleeps, Metro Rail barracade project, 1994,

2 blocks long

 

visual typography in computer/digitally influenced work by artists and

designers

 _______________________________________________________________________________

 

81.   John Heartfield, And Yet it Moves, 1943, photomontage

82. W. Eugene Smith, Tomoko in Bath, from Minimata, 1972-75, 9x13.25"

83. Margaret Bourke-White, Mahatma Gandhi, 1946, and, Miners, Johannesburg,

1950, photographs

84. Weegee, Simply Add Boiling Water, 1950, and, The Human Cannonball,

1952, photos

85. Dorthea Lange, Migrant Worker, California, 1938, photograph

86. Walker Evans, Sharecroppers Family, Hale County, Alabama, 1939, photograph

87. Nan Golden, Philippe M. and Rise on Their Wedding Day, New York City,

1978, from: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, photograph series

88. Jeff Wall, Pleading, 1988, duratrans photograph 46x66"

89. Jeff Wall, Mimic, 1982, duratrans photograph 78x90.25"

90. David Leventhal, Untitled from Cowboys and Western Landscapes, 1988,

polaroid ER prints 24x20

 

photography with strong narrative content

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

91.   G. de Paolo, St John the Baptist Returning to the Desert, 1454,

painting 12x15, combination   perspective, combining 2 episodes of story

into one scene, early renaissance

92. blank

93. Unknown artist, #4 de Espanol y Negra Mulata, 18th century, oil 14x19"

94. Douglas Gordon, 30 Second Text, 1996, Helvetica & Bembo on wall,

lightbulb, timer

95. Beata Szpura, illustration in N.Y. Times, september 1998

96. Lari Pittman, c.1995, acrylic and enamel, unknown title

97. Sue Willaims, It's a New Age, c.1995

98. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Fart Battle (detail), 1810, ink and color on

silk 11x102"

99. Jefferey Vallance, Evaluation of Defects, 1978, pastel, color pencil

and marker 18x23.5"

100. Navajo sand painting, temporal and symbolic

101. Chris Hipkiss, Expo (vision of post-holocost where women take power),

c. 1990 170x235"

102. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, 1991, billboard, 8th Ave. & 16th, NYC

103. 1961 print advertisement for Uni-Matic Auto-Stat copier

104. Leon Golub, Interrogation II, 1981, acrylic 304.8x426.72cm

 

narratives contained within a single picture frame

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

105. Unknown Medieval manuscript page, David and Goliath, c.1250,

11.5x10.75",  Episodic Time   Passage, like a Medieval comic

106. John Baldessari, The Pencil Story, 1972-73, two R-type photo prints,

colored pencil 22c27"

107. 1998-9 billboard advertisement for Miller beer

108. Doug and Mike Starn (the Starn Twins), Gut Epoch, 1990-4, toned silver

prints on polyester, plexi, vitrines, xerox, 24 parts each 26x26x5",

overall 86x236"

109. H. Bosch,(Flanders) , Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, c.15th

century,  oil 220x195cm

110. Hieronymous Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights (right panel), c.15th

century, oil on panel 195x55cm

111. Ami Franceschini and Ole Lutjens/Future Farmers, Wired magazine 12/1998 -1

112. Ami Franceschini and Ole Lutjens/Future Farmers, Wired magazine

12/1998-2

113. Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Swamp Thing comic, DC

Comics 1985

114. Wetworks comics, 1994

115. Art Spiegelman, Maus, originally published in 1973, graphic novel

116. Art Spiegelman, Maus, 2-page spread

117. Martha Rosler, The Bowery in Two Inadequate Description Systems, 1974,

photographs and text, and a book

118. Cheap Art, Power Myth (excerpt), from World War 3, 1991, activist

art/comic/zine, 10.5x8"

119. Nancy Spero, The Goddess Hut, 1989, handprinting collage on paper,

110x20" each

120. Sophie Calle, The Blind, 1986, color photographs,  installation

121. Japanese Comic Book, 1996-7

122. Callis, Ernst, Ramirez, Torres, from The Big Sweep, c.1994, designed

by ReVerb, book project supporting Custodial Unions right to strike

 

episodic , linear narrative examples, sequences taking place over two or

more frames (cells/panels)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

123. T. Tzara, Bilan, from Dada #4-5, 1919

124. Shelly Jackson, Patch Work Girl, 1995, online hypertext

125. Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan, Acme Novelty Library, published by

Fanagraphics Press. c.1995

126. Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan, Acme Novelty Library, published by

Fanagraphics Press. c.1995

127. Chris Ware, Sparky's, back cover (I Hate You), Acme Novelty Library, 1994

128. Jorma Puranen (Finnish), unknown titles, original images from 1882,

silver gelatin prints and     plexiglass, c.1990

129. Lyle Aston Harris, The Secret Life of a Snow Queen, 1993-4, photo and

mixed media installation

130. Mike Kelly, Pay For Your Pleasure, 1988, pastel on paper by William

Bonnin) painting on tyvek banners 96x48" each

 

non-linear narratives achieved through collage, hypertext, installation

strategies

 

Week 8            HOW- STRATEGIES FOR THE DISPLACEMENT AND ASSERTION OF THE IMAGE

Juxtaposition, Reason and Chance

Collage, Photomontage, Cut & Paste, Hypertext- multisequential forms

Extra-Real Special Effects- Transparency, Blur, Glo, Drop-Shadow

Revisiting Representation and the Image as Fetish

 

Studio Project:

1. Using select elements of last week's visual language project,

incorporate your photographic images to construct a multi-celled narrative

that features collage/photomontage. Any type of emulsion based photography

accepted. It is recommended that you take your own pictures, and you may

NOT use any pre-printed sources such as magazines and books.

New supplies needed: photographic film process/device, materials as needed

for production and presentation

Project objectives: juxtaposition, narrative intent and styles, images + words

reading:

Jello Biafra

from  F**cked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement, excerpt

Brian Ray Turcotte and Christopher T. Miller

Gingko Press 1999

Dawn Ades

The Marvelous and the Commonplace and Introduction, from Photomontage

Thames and Hudson 1976

Sarah Boxer

Transparent Enough To Hide

New York Times, December 19, 1998

Joshua Decter

Transparent, from Purple (Prose) Number 2-76 FW 1998/99, Elien Fleiss and

Oliver Zahm editors, pp. 306, 307

Christopher Keep

Defining Postmodernism

world wide web publication

<http://www.winstonsmith.com>

George P. Landow

History of the Concept of Hypertext

<http://landow.stg.brown.edu/ht/contents.html>

 

 

 

Week 9            WHERE- SPECIFICITY OF SITE, RECEPTION, DISTRIBUTION

Relationship between Viewer and Image

Private, Public, and Institutional Contexts

Intimacy and Spectacle

Multiples, Editions

 

video: Post No Bills, Clay Walker, 1992, documentary on Robbie Conal

 

Studio Project:

1. a site-specific project (local-arts complex) that includes a reproduced

element such as xerox, produced in multiple or not; documentation of its

process on-site.

New supplies needed: as needed, possibly oversize or color xerox,

lamination, etc.

Project objectives: examination of 2D art executed for public spaces,

relationship with modes of public address such as advertising, propaganda,

education and entertainment; distribution and placement strategies

(including using reproduction & multiples  as an elaboration of viewer

experience)

reading:

Martha Rosler

Excerpts from "Fragments of a Metropolitan Viewpoint", from Martha Rosler:

Positions in the Life World, edited by Catherine de Zegher, MIT Press 1999

Charles Merewether

The Spirit of the Gift, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA 1994

<http://www.guerrillagirls.com>

<http://www.theartguys.com>

<http://www.robbieconal.com/>

<http://www.rtmark.com/>

<http://www.transmitter1.com/onl/billboard/>

 

Week 10           TBA

 

Week 11           FINAL EXAM       The final exam will be an in class,

written exam.

 

 

SLIDE LISTS

2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   Fall 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

 

Lecture #1 Notes

 

Week 1            INTRODUCTION

Introduction to instructors, supplies, course structure and requirements,

art resources on campus, S.B., L. A.

Purchase supplies at bookstore, reader at AS notes, Understanding Comics at

the Bookstore.

 

The fluidity of vision

Slippage in reality and its representation

Sight as a dominant descriptive sense

Learning through slides vs. actual work

Flat space

Illusionistic space

Realism and Representation

Abstraction

Non-objective images

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

1.    Kachina Doll Rendering Experiment, c.1970

2.    "I Need Love" Tattoo on man's face, 1996

 

interpretation and projection as  powerful aspects of image making and viewing

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

3.    Dunhuang Star Map, 940 ad

4.    Egyptian Wall Painting (the bird hunter, detail), 1400ad

 

representation of your perceived environment, examples of flat space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

5.    Piet Mondrian, Composition ,1916, oil 47x29"

5.    Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Gray,

1922, oil 16x19"

6.    Mondrian inspired fabric print on jacket, from "Deerskin" catalog

 

flat space, arts influence on commerce

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

7.    Pattern Motifs, 1994, Emigre magazine

8.    Seismograph device for registering earthquakes

 

flat space

______________________________________________________________________________

 

9.    Life Magazine Cover "The Brain", 1971

10.   Flat Graph from Macintosh, c.1994

 

flat space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

11.   from the Hastings Hours, a book of hours, c.1470, personal

religious tract

12.   Sandro Botticelli , Birth of Venus, c.1486

 

shallow space, not quite flat or 3-dimensional

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

13.   David Hockney, Domestic Scene, Los Angeles, 1963, oil 60x60"

14.   Lari Pittman, Regenerative and Needy, 1991, acrylic 82x66"

 

shallow space, somewhere between flat and fully dimensional

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

15.   Johann Konig, The Last Judgment, 1632, painting on agate (rock)

16.   Annette Messager, My Trophies, 1987, acrylic, charcoal and pastel

on gelatin-silver photograph

 

shallow space, dependent on objects or their representation to establish

recession in space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

17.   Giotto , Arena Chapel in Padua, Marriage at Cana detail, 1304-06,

fresco

18.   Carlo Crivelli, The Annunciation with Saint Emidus, 1486, egg

tempera and oil 6.9'x4.11'

 

early/pre and high Renaissance linear perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

19.   Roger Minick, Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite...,

1980, color photograph

20.   Wang Xingwei, The Way to the East, 1995, oil 57x73"

20.   Liu Chunhua, Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan, 1967, oil 87x71"

 

realism in the service of an idea/ideology

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

21.   Chinese Peasant Painting, anonymous

22.   Blur (& Dirty Plotte) magazine covers, c.1995

 

realism partially abstracted, using reduced detail to reinforce

identification and effect

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

23.   Thomas Kincaid with his paintings including Garden of Prayer, 1997, oil

24.   Michael Flanagan, Confederate Burial (detail), 1993, acrylic and

graphite 16x20"

 

realism- interventions/edited, hyper realism as nostalgia; representations

of representations

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

25.   Galileo, Sidereus Nuncius, 1610, engraving

26.   Athanasius Kircher, The Inner World (Fire and Water), 1664 engraving

 

representation of known/perceived world, visible and invisible ('soul')space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

27.   William Hunter, study of obstetrics, early 1700's, engraving

28.   Charles LeBrunn, Men-Camels, 1700's, engraving of human/animal

physiognomy

 

representation of known/perceived world

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

29.   Leonardo daVinci, anatomy studies, 15th century, backwards writing

30.   Voynich Manuscript, unknown origin and author, in the style of 16th

century manuscripts,    unreadable script/unknown language

 

representation with deliberate mysterious language, knowledge as

privileged, puzzle, coded

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

31.   unknown artist, Bats, 18th century scientific engraving

32.   Walton Ford, Devotees, contemporary, watercolor, gouache, ink,

pencil 30x20"

 

naturalist illustration and contemporary variation, knowledge and imagination

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

33.   unknown artist, Head Louse (Pediculus), 1898, woodcut

33.   20th century microphotograph of a head louse with polarized light

/color added

34.   Felice Frankel, 1997, microphotograph of a ferrofluid (magnetite+oil)

 

the changing face of realism according to the technology by which it was

produced

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

35.   Jack Goldstein, Untitled, 1983, acrylic 96x132"

36.   Sharon Ellis, unknown title, c.1995, oil

 

abstraction, from nature

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

37.   Mark Catesby, The Brown Viper (from Catesby's Natural History),

1729-49, water color and      gouache over pen and brown ink      10.5x15"

38.   Hiroshi Sugimoto, Polar Bear, 1976, photograph

 

'abstracted' realism, from nature, realism- tableau photographed

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

39.   Jeniffer Bornstein, Will and Ariel Durant Branch Public Libraries

and Basketball Courts, 1996, c-     print (color photograph)

40.   Giorgio Jano, photograph of an interior using a rotating camera to

record all angles in 1 photo,       Nest 9, Summer 2000

 

realistic images with constructed  juxtapositions

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

41.   Crispin Glover, Oak Mot, 1993, offset book 7.5x10.5"

42.   Japanese monster poster, c.1990

 

images that arrive at fantasy through our concepts of what is real and

extra-real

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

43.   Laszlo Moholy-Nagy , both pieces titled Photogram, 1924, gelatin

silver prints 39.8x29.8 ea

44.   unknown, photogram

 

photographic trace of actual forms

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

45.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

46.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

 

the abstraction of forms from nature

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

47.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

48.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

 

transforming an image by eliminating the picture plane and shading, the

picture becomes an object, the object is processed into a symbol, then

rendered in 3-D

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

49.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

50.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

 

2-D silhouette /3-D shape; reducing the form of detail, developing it into

an icon

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

51.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

52.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 offset book

 

rearrangement of shapes; shapes into lines

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

53.   Andy Warhol, Diamond Dust Shoes, 1980 acrylic and silk-screen with

diamond dust 70x78"

54.   Andy Warhol, Shadows (of 102 panels), 1984-5, acrylic and

silk-screen 76x52" ea

 

abstracted form still recognizable, not recognizable, strong color

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

55.   Paul Cezanne, Montagnes, l'Estaque, 1878-80, oil 53x72cm

56.   Emily Carr, Sunshine and Tumult, 1939 , oil, and , Cedar, 1942, oil

 

abstraction, both  inspired by natural 'scenes', subjective vision

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

57.   Georgia O'Keefe, Lightning at Sea, 1922, pastel

58.   Agnes Pelton, Nuture, 1940, oil 30x28"

 

both abstractions of a landscape, fanciful, spiritual

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

59.   3D map of Mars landscape, National Geographic, 1997

60.   Susan Rankaitis, Marvel, 1986, combined media on photopaper 90x48"

 

photographic manipulation of the real

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

61. Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay, Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta (Model

Book of Calligraphy),   16th century Flemish

62.   Cleve Jones (originator), The Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt,

1985-present

 

unintentional collaborations

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

63.   Visible Language 31.3 Autumn 1997 cover, a 2D sound wave over a 3D one

64.   Andreas Lauhoff, 1999, rendering of speech recognizing letterforms

saying  "Hal" from film 2001

 

sonically driven images, the representation of sound and its mediating

instruments

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

65. anonymous, day time and might time at Versailles, c.1850, hand colored

lithograph and device

66.   Kurt Schwitters, Der Weihnachtsman (Santa Claus), 1922, collage

28.57x20.96cm

 

mediating instruments (viewing device to change time; and scissors to

change context)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

67.   John Currin, The Moved Over Lady, 1991, oil 46x38"

67.   neg space treatment of Currin's painting

67.   Ellsworth Kelly, Red and White, 1961, oil  5x7'

68.   Mark Rothko, Black and Dark Red on Red, 1958, oil

 

representation,  positive/negative space (abstraction), non-objective

images (no referent source subject)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

69.   Jackson Pollack, Blue Poles, mixed media on canvas, 1953 210x488cm

70.   Elizabeth Murray, Can You Hear Me?, 1984, oil 269.24x403.86x30.5cm

 

non-objective abstract-expressionist

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

71.   Agnes Martin, Falling Blue, detail, 1963, oil

72.   Jim Iserman and Jorge Pardo, Untitled rugs installation, 1996, hand

braided cotton twill 11.5x23'

 

non-objective optical pattern , meditative or  psychedelic quality to

experience

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

73.   Snood computer game screen shot

74.   Street signage

 

everyday abstract and directive forms, iconographic, and just plain

graphic, language

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

75.   Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, 1991, offset print ideal height

7", 39x45"

76.   Mierle Lederman Ukeles, The Social Mirror, 1983, tempered glass,

Plexiglas mirror 338"x126"x100" on a 20-cubic-yard sanitation truck

 

migrating images, first is how you perceive it, 2nd is how it perceives you

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

77.   Edward Lipski, Tattoo, 1997, india ink, fiberglass, pigskin, steel,

vitrine 100cm long

78.   Amy Adler, Baby 1996, 20x24"; The Problem Child, 1995, 21x30;

Raising Your Gifted Child ,   1997, 38x50, all photographs of drawings of

photographs

 

slippage in representation

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

79.   Jessica Bronson, World Picture, 1998 video installation

80.   Matt Owens, from Deep End, 1999, magazine spread from Emigre

 

the new space, collapsed, flipped, upended from original contexts and

re-presented

 

 

 

 

 

 

2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   Fall 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

 

Lecture #2 Notes

 

Week 2            THE ORGANIZATION OF SPACE- COMPOSITION AND FORM

The picture plane and frame

Scale and Proportion

Discreet shapes and Overlapping (layering), transparency

Light-dark

Symmetry, Asymmetry, the Diagonal, S-Curve, Golden Section, Grid, Figure

and Ground, Hierarchical and Random Space

Negative and Positive Space

Cropping

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

1.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, picture plane window

2.    Picture Plane and Frame diagram

 

picture plane and frame definitions

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

3.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, empty picture planes

4.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, full picture planes

 

picture planes and their contents, relative scale

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

5.    blank

6.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, pictures with

frames/borders

 

frames/borders around pictures, image bleeding off

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

7.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, jump out of picture

plane

8.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, artificial borders

 

leaving and entering the picture plane

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

9.    Aubrey Beardsley, The Wonderful Mission of Earl lavender, Which

Lasted One Day and      One Night, 1895, crop + crop

10.   blank

 

cropping an image to achieve illusion of continuation, taking eye outside

of frame

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

11.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, framing and cropping

12.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, cropping to achieve

direction and     movement, narrative content

 

cropping effects on direction, movement, narrative; overlapping

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

13.   Pieter Boel, Etudes d'un Perroquet ara, c.1650, .98x1.30m

14.   Lorenz L. Midart, draftsman and Christian von Mechel, engraver,

1779 engraving 14x17"   and,  Anonymous, c.1765, engraving 19.5x15"

 

crop, images extending to edge of frame for dramatic effect

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

15.   Jessica Irish, from Digit series, 1997-98, ink jet print

16.   Richard Ross, installation shot of color photographs, 1998

 

cropping, image bleed

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

17.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, composition,

cropping, scale

18.   Jess, Goddess Because Is Is Falling Asleep, 1954 collage

 

breaking the frame/border

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

19.   Issey Miyake, magazine ad, 1998

20.   Anna Salai, hand painted signs on plywood New Delhi, India, 100'

tall, 1990

 

relative scale using the figure as base size

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

21.   Robert Raucshenberg, Lipstick Monument, 1966 postcard

22.   Jeff Wall, The Giant, 1992, duratrans photograph 15x19"

 

scale for immediate effect of dissonance (something's not right with this

picture)

__________________________________________________________________________

 

23.   Dieter Rot, from Book no. 10, 1970 offset book

24.   Jeff Wall, The Pine on the Corner, 1990, duratrans photograph46x59

 

big/little, scale shift by direct comparison

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

25.   2D forces contributing to balance- Horizontal, Vertical, Radial,

Diagonal

26.   Balance, Gravity and Pictorial/Visual Tension

 

scale,  proportion, layout,  to establish hierarchy of viewing, importance

and direction of images

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

2

7.    Ben Shahn, Handball, 1939, tempera 22x31"

28.   Jacob Lawrence, Cabinet Makers, 1946, gouache with pencil 22x30"

 

scale,  proportion, layout,  to establish hierarchy of viewing, importance

and direction of images

visual tension and balance in composition, shapes creating movement

______________________________________________________________________________

 

29.   Ronald Coleman, Supervisory WifeII, 1992, digital image

30.   Erberto Carboni, Composition, 1954, photomontage ad

 

elements depend on plane or frame to establish a dynamic

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

31.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

32.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

 

scale, tension, cropping, depth (in space), positive and negative space;

editing image by adding, subtracting- how does that effect pos/neg, depth?

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

33.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

34.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

 

positive and negative space, how many shapes here, 1 or 3?

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

35.   Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave Off Kanagawa, 1829-33, woodcut

10.5x15"

36.   Michael Ramierez, LATimes editorial cartoon, 1998

 

sometimes visual tension relies on viewer's prior experience

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

37.   Shared edges, Overlapping, Transparency

39.   Overlapping and Transparency

 

overlapping & transparency to establish position in space,

front/middle/rear/etc

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

40.   Multiple planes creating illusion of depth

41.   Example of Interpenetration of planes and shapes

 

multiple angled planes creating depth

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

42.   Gunther Gerzso, Personage in Red and Blue, oil on fabric 39x39"

43.   Al Held, Quatro Centric XIII, 1990, acrylic 5x6'

 

shared edges, overlapping and interpenetration of planes/shapes

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

44.   Chris Finley (cover of ArtIssues magazine), Sweat, 1998, oil base

sign paint and enamel   on canvas over board 72x72"

45.   Judy Chicago, Heaven for White Men Only, 1973, sprayed acrylic 80x80"

 

symmetrical compositions, central axis

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

46.   Ecole de Fountainebleau, c.16th century, .96x1.25m

47.   1995 Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror and Two Nudes, 1932 and

1906, oil

 

reflective, approximate symmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

48.   Annie Sprinkle, Cubist Tit Print,

49.   Agnes Pelton, Evensong, 1934, oil on canvas 36x32"

 

approximate symmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

50.   Minnie Evans, Untitled (landscape- many faces), 1959-61, mixed

media 20x24"

51.   Karen Carson, Breathe In Breathe Out, c.1995, vinyl

 

approximate symmetry, iconic  and fanciful imagery

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

52.   Annette Messager, My Works, 1987, gelatin silver prints & color

pencil on wall

53.   Annette Messager, Piece Montee no.2, 1986, acrylic and oil on

photos on canvas

 

approximate symmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

54.   Herbert Bayer, Lonesome Big City Dweller, 1932, photomontage

gel-sil print , 34x27cm

55.   Diego Rivera, Communication Vessels, 1938, woodcut ad for the poet

Andre Breton

 

approximate symmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

56.   Karen Carson, The Deadly Arrangement 1, 1992, acrylic and found

clock 41x36x5"

57.   Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1991, clocks

13.5" each

 

approximate symmetry, implausibility of perfection

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

58.   Gilbert and George, Resting,  1991, photomontage

59.   Gilbert and George, City Faeries, 1991, photomontage

 

approximate symmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

60.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

61.   Robert Rauschenberg, Axle, 1964, paint and print transfer

 

asymmetry

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

62.   Alice Neel, Still Life, Rose of Sharin, 1973, oil 40x30"

63.   Edward Weston, Dr.Atl, 1926, black and white photograph

 

centered compositions, primary subject matter is placed in the middle

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

64.   Saving Private Ryan movie print ad, 1998

65.   Imogene Cumminghan, Chris Through the Curtain, 1972, Polaroid mistake

 

centered compositions

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

66.   No Smoking, No Fire, etc. generic cancellation signs

67.   Pepsi billboard, 1997

 

strong diagonal compositions in service of consumer targeting

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

68.   Larry Clark, Untitled (from Tulsa series), 1963-70, gelatin-silver

(photo)print 12x8"

69.   Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Don't buy us with apologies), 1985,

photograph 47x54"

 

strong diagonal in service of a narrative

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

70.   Zoe Leonard, Frontal View Geoffery Bean Fashion Show, 1990, black

and white photo

71.   Gustav Klutsis, Let Us Fulfill the Plans of the Great Projects,

1930, photomontage gravure print    47x33"

 

strong diagonals

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

72.   Unknown designer, McCalls magazine July 1941

73.   Marlboro billboard

 

strong diagonals with sexual intent

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

74.   James Rosenquist, detail of an unknown title, painting c. 1975

75.   Unknown artist and title

 

dynamic diagonals, in 2nd slide, the diagonals help energize static

grid-like pattern

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

76.   Sassetta, The Journey of the Magi, 1430

77.   Tung Cheng-Yi, Commune Fish Pond, Chinese peasant painting, c.1958

 

soft, curvilinear diagonal forces

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

78.   Johannes Vermeer, Diana and the Nymphs, 1655-56, oil 33.5x41"

79.   Japanese Manga(Comic Book) Cover, 1996

 

extended edges of dominant shapes as a composition  tool

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

80.   Eugene Delacroix, Arabs Skirmishing in the Mountains, 1863, S-Curve

81.   Eugene Delacroix, The Justice of Trajan, 1840, oil, S-Curve

 

S-Curve

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Golden Mean, Golden Section, Golden Rectangle

Represent the ideal standard for proportion and balance in life and art.

Greek/mathematical- "moderation in all things, a place between two

extremes". In art, that the small part relates to a larger part as it

relates to the whole.

 

82.- 87.    Golden Mean/Section Basic Idea and Form, Golden Section in

Nature, Golden Rectangle in architecture, Golden Rectangle applied in

Painting example- Georges Seurat's Circus Sideshow, 1887-8, oil 39.5x59",

Golden Section applied to the design of a printed page

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

88.   Using a grid, Paste-up the old fashioned way

89.   Using a grid, Yale Style Manual Web Page grid

 

applications of a rigid grid system in composition

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

90.   Gail Swanlund, designer, Snowflake Magazine, 1997-98

91.   Spiegel print ad using a grid format

 

grids in the service of information organization and visual pleasure

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

92.   Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-82, offset prints 17x17" ea

93.   Andy Warhol, Ethel Skull Thirty-Six Times, 1963, acrylic and

silk-screen 20x16 ea, 80x143"

 

grid device used as a "neutral" structure, in order to let contents be the

emphasis, also a strategy to emphasize the banal

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

94.   Kiki Smith, Untitled (Bosoms), 1994, lithograph 40x61.5"

95.   Mike Kelly, Ahh...Youth, 1991, C-(photo)prints 24x20"

 

grid structure used as an ordering device to question normalcy and aberration

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

96.   Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Blue Cross), 1990, offset prints,

endless copies, cloth 59x59"x9"

97.   Donald Judd, Untitled, 1988, woodcut 23.5x31.5"

 

grid structure with particular emphasis on the edges between cells

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

98.   Charles Demuth, Sailors Urinating, 1930, watercolor 8.5x9.25"

99.   VNS Matrix, All New Gen, 1992, concept design for video game and

installation

 

figure and ground, both examples have the classic trio of figures

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

100.  Carole Carompas, unknown title, c. 1985

101.  Tattoo on Jack Rudy

 

figure and ground, clearly distinct in Carompas, unclear in tattoo

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

102.  Edward Hopper, Sunlight in a Cafeteria, 1958, oil, 3.4x5'

103.  Cornel Windlin, Hello World , c.1998, offset poster

 

integrated and flipped figure ground relationships

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

104.  Mark Catesby, The Land Frog, Water Frog, & the Green Tree Frog,

1712-26, water color and      gouache over pen and ink, graphite

14.75x10.5"

105.  Laszlo Moholy-Nagy & Joseph Potipher, Wishful Dreaming of a Girls

Boarding School, 1925, photomontage gelatin-silver print

 

isolating the figure from the ground

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

106.  Catherine Opie, BO, 1994 cromogenic-print 60x30", image on Regen

Projects exhibit poster

107.  Robert Mapplethorpe, unknown title, from the Black Box seriesc. 1985

 

figures with minimal ground

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

108.  Bill Viola, Stations (at Lannan Foundation), 1996, video program

with sound installation, granite

109.  Richard Hawkins, Dismembered Zombie George White, 1997; Dismembered

Zombie Guy Peach,       1997, ink jet prints 47x36 ea

 

figures on minimal, reduced ground, used to great effect to highlight the

"humanity", and lack of

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

110.  Sarah Charlesworth, Work, 1988, c-print

111.  Saatchi + Anonymous, Lesbian Mothers, 1990-1, billboard, reworked

Benetton ad

 

isolated figures make good targets, de-contextualization/re-contextualization

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

112.  Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

113.  U.S.A. Today front page, July 20, 1998

 

proportion and hierarchy of space, hierarchy of the front page, position of

photos, headlines, columns

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

114.  Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

115.  Nikolai Prusakov, Seven Year Plan (detail), 1932, photomontage

poster 40x87"

 

hierarchies and scale shifts in service of propaganda and devotion

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

116.  Perspective drawing, engraving, c. 1750

117.  Unknown artist, Renaissance era painting, c. 1450

 

perspective as a hierarchical ordering compositional tool, directing the

eye to important subject matter

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

118.  Illustration showing the total composition more important than its

parts

119.  Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, structured and

random space

 

whole greater than parts, random space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

120.  Edward Fella, holiday card, 1993, offset print of an ink drawing 17x11"

121.  Jim Iserman, Untitled, 1994, hand-pieced fabric 72x71"

 

whole greater than parts, random space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

122.  Jackson Pollack, Number One, 1949 oil

123.  Sue Williams, Heavy and Thin Lines, 1996, acrylic on canvas

 

random space, seemingly unordered, unconfined space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

124.  Barry LeVa, Aluminum and Felt with Glass Throws, 1967, ink and

graphite drawing

125.  Roy Dowel, Untitled #580, 1992, collage and acrylic 48x30"

 

compositions derived or inspired from materials:

Hypothetical in LeVa's case the drawing preceded the installation.

Aggressive and clunky objects depicted in a fragile looking and very formal

drawing. In Dowel's case, he uses scraps of decayed billboards, adds

painted elements.

 

 

2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   Fall 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

 

Lecture #3 Notes

 

Week 3            THE ORGANIZATION OF SPACE- FLAT SPACE, LINE, SHAPE, FORM,

SIGNS, ICON

Flat Space

Line- Weight, and Line as Value (cross hatch, etc.), the Association with

Intellect, Mark-Making

Diagrammatic Lines, Maps, Architectural, Contour

Gesture, Expressive, Calligraphic Line

Shape- Negative and Positive space

Planes and Shapes, Stencils, Graphic Shapes

Fractured Representation

Signs

Icons

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

video: The Films of Oskar Fishinger,  excerpts from the animated shorts

dating from the late 1920's to the early 1950's, published in 1998 by Jack

Rutberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

1.    Mysterious dancing rock phenomenon in Death Valley, California

2.    from The Measurement of Intelligence by Drawing, children's

drawings, published 1926

 

intro to line and shape, meaning and representation

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

3.    Medieval panel, elephants drawn from legend, c.1230

4.    Egyptian wall painting, 1420bc

 

flat space and plastic/fractional representation

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

5.    Brazilian Folk woodcut prints, c. 1960

6.    jodi.org, contemporary www-specific artists' project, 1999

 

flat space in service of a conventional narrative, and in a

digital-reflexive context

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

7.    Diagram of groups of lines producing value (light and dark)

8.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, line weight

mechanical and hand

 

line weight, line producing value

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

9.    Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book, lineweight,

foreground and    background, overlapping

10.   J. Seely, Stripe Song, 1981, silk-screen print 22x30"

 

line weight, as value, camoflage

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

11.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

12.   David Salle, Melancholy, 1983, oil and acrylic 155x205cm

 

line as transparent layer over other images

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

13.   Scratchboard shading technique

14.   Scratchboard shading technique

 

line as shading, positive and negative through line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

15.   Canaletto, Imaginary View of Venice, 1741, etching  11.75x17"

16.   G.B. Piranesi, The Well (Carleri), 1750-58, etching

 

lines to define shading, shadows, textures, shapes

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

17.   Max Beckmann, The Madhouse, 1918, drypoint 10.25x12"

18.   Elliot Earls, from An Investigation Through Portraiture (Kurt

Schwitters), 1999 offset      poster

 

line as shading, texture

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

19.   Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman, 1927, oil 51x38"

20.   Jean Dubuffet, Urgence, 1979, acrylic 22.5x27.5"

 

line as texture

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

21.   Johanna N. Wintsch (The Embroiderer), untitled, 1923, cotton embroidery

22.   ASCII art example, varied live weight through different ascii

characters

 

line weight, economy of line, line producing language (& word shapes)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

23.   Aubrey Beardsley, 4th tableau from Das Rheingold, 1896

24.   Pablo Picasso, The Lovers, 1923, oil on linen 51.25x38.25"

 

economy of line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

25.   Raymond Pettibone, Big, Big Top, c.1990 ink on paper, approx 11x17"

26.   Jun Watanabe, Yoshio Hamada, untitled drawings from Unforgettable

Fire: Pictures Drawn By       Atomic Bomb Victims

 

economy of line, calligraphic , narrative

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

27.   Barry McGee, untitled detail from installation, 1999, paint on

glass objects

28.   Kate Beynon, Alien, 1997, chenille strips

 

economy of line, outlines

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

29.   Peter Nagy, Entertainment Erases History, 1983

30.   Kevin Appel, Untitled (Interior Sketch #4), 1995, gouache and ink

14x17"

 

economy of line in service of reducing content & the experience of objects

to their representation

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

31.   Robert Irwin, Untitled, 1969, acrylic paint and cast acrylic

plastic  (light)

32.   Frank Stella, Agbatana I, 1968, polymer on canvas

 

line in painting - as an expression away and towards the object

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

33.   Philip Guston, unknown title, drawing from 1947

34.   David Hockney, Henry Moore at Cafe Royal, 1972, ink on paper 17x14"

 

contour line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

35.   Guntar Brus, various pencil drawings from 1966

36.   Jennifer Pastor, Human Snowflake, c.1997, ink

 

contour drawing rough (modified blind) and smooth (mechanical looking,

traced or digitally produced)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

37.   William Smith, from A Delineation of the Strata of England and

Wales with a Part of Scotland,      1815 engraving, map

38.   Internet map of networks

 

lines in maps, maps as abstract means to define a concrete and abstract spaces

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

39.   Unknown Persian or Arabic body mapping of (accupressure?) points,

date unknown

40.   Diderot, Th e Arteries, from L'Encyclopedie.., 1765 engraving, and

      Charles Etienne, La dissection des parties du corps humain, 1546

engraving or woodcut print

 

body maps, mapping to understand the invisible

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

41.   M.D. Logan, illustration from Magic-A Treatise on Natural

Occultism, Manly P. Hall, 1925

42.   Holmes W. Merton, A Symbolic Head, illustration from Descriptive

Mentality, 1899

 

of the body and head (physiognomy), using the physical to explain the more

"physic" or metaphysical

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

43.   Unknown artist, shopping map to Beverly Hills, late 20th century

44.   The Last Minutes of Flight 007, map, offset

 

more maps/diagramming

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

45.   Aztec Calendar Stone (from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, CA)

46.   Alfred Jensen, Girl and Boy and Numbers, 1978, oil

 

diagrammatic calendars, using images and numbers symbolically

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

47.   Audel Staff, illustration from Audels Mechanical Drawing Guide, 1947

48.   Yvonne Rainer, Watering Place, from Notes and Drawings, 1963,

spiral notebook 11x8.5"

 

diagrams as tools to build

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

49.   Ushio Shinohara, Boxing Painting Action, 1960-62, performance

resulting in a painting

50.   Carolee Schneeman, Up to and Including Her Limits, 1973-6,

performance documentation

 

gestural drawing/painting using the body

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

51.   Yves Klein, Anthropometry Performance, March 9, 1960, performance

resulting in paintings

52.   Yves Klein, Anthropometry Blue, 1960, acrylic  156.5x282.5cm

 

gesture-painting

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

53.   Robert Morris, Blind Time, 1973, powdered graphite and pencil 35x46"

54.   Janine Antoni, Loving Care, 1992, performance with hair dye

 

unsighted, body/object, (dis)embodied vision, conditions facilitate chance

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

55.   Gary Simmons, installation view of Lannan Foundation exhibit, The

Ballroom 15x50', Ex-Rex       14x51', Star Charmer 15x70', 1996, chalk on

slate painted walls

56.   Gary Simmons in action making the Lannan installation, 1996

 

gesture, trace of body movements

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

57.   Bruce Nauman, Both Lips Turned Out..., 1967, pen and wash 19x27"

58.   Alan Saret, Untitled, 1970, color pencil 10x35"

 

body as inspiration  for and tool of gesture

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

59.   Atsuko Tanaka, Electric Dress and drawings for it, 1956, painted

light bulbs, cords, armature

60.   Niki de Saint Phalle, Tir de'Ambassade Americaine, 1961, assemblage

with paint balloons,    shotgun     fired at it

 

body and mechanism implied and used

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

61.   Jim Dine, Crash Drawing with White Cross #2, and #1, 1959

62.   Bruce Nauman, House Divided, 1983, drypoint 24x37", and Arnulf

Rainer, Red Cross, 1980-85,   drypoint 53x25

 

controled gesture, register of the hand

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

63.   Andy Warhol, Five Dollar Bill (incomplete), 1962, pencil 18x23

64.   Jean-Michael Basquiat, unknown title,detail, c.1980's

 

gestural line in drawing, painting

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

65.   Lui Shou-kwan, Zhuangzi, 1974, vertical scroll ink on paper 54x27"

66.   Hassan Massoudy, There is Room on Earth for Everyone, 1998, ink

 

calligraphic line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

67.   Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, 1893, lithograph 10.5x8.5"

68.   Unknown artist and date, intaglio print

 

gestural line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

69.   Pablo Picasso, Scene de Corrida: la pose des banderilles, 1959,

india ink, 37x27cm

70.   Milton Glaser, from Cats and Dogs and Things with Wings, ink wash

 

calligraphic line

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

71.   Madge Gill, Woman and Staircase, 1951, ink drawing, "outsider" artist

72.   Guillaume Pujolle, Le Depart du Lutetia, 1938, color pencil and

water color 30.7x47.2cm

 

repetitive, obsessive line

gesture- calligraphic lines and shapes of varying weight , as if flowing

with body movement

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

73.   Planes and Shapes in 2-point perspective

74.   Ron Davis, Parallel Epipeduents #545, 1977, acrylic 9.6x15'

 

how planes combine into shapes      solid and empty

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

75.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

76.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

 

shapes cutting into shapes, negative and positive space, overlap

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

77.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

78.   Edward Weston, Nude, 1925, black and white photograph

 

shapes - reduced to most graphic, positive and negative space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

79.   Georgii Zimm, Still Life with Bulb, 1928-30, photogram

gelatin-silver print

80.   Joris Hoefnagel and Georg Bocskay, folio # 15 from Mira

Calligraphiae Monumenta (Model Book       of Calligraphy), produced between

the mid and late 16th century

 

shapes with active interiors, made up of objects

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

81.   Hugo Schmölz, Glass Roof over the Staircase of the Police

Headquarters in Düsseldorf, 1934    16.5x22.4cm, and Handrail, 1932,

47.8x35.1cm, both gelatin-silver prints

82.   Richard Artschwager, BLPS, 1968, various installations and materials

 

dominant shapes leading the eye

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

83.   Georges Andreas, Energy, 1979, oil 31x54

84.   Georges Braque,  Still Life: The Table, 1928, oil 32x51.5"

 

shapes creating movement and visual tension

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

85.   Marc Palley, MP9113 Fucking for Profit is not a Collapsed Metaphor,

1990, oil, ink, acrylic,      charcoal, pastel and graphite 46x96.5"

86.   Paul Manes, Eiso, 1995, oil 60x66"

 

shapes creating movement, use of white space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

87.   Mike Kelly, Animal Self and Friend of the Animals, 1987, glued felt

96x72" and 95x68"

88.   Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book

 

basic/simple shapes creating a narrative, use of pos and neg space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

89.   Lucas Samaras, Photo-Transformation, 1976, manipulated polaroid 3x3'

90.   Lisa May Post, Bound, 1996, color photograph

 

shapes, bodies

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

91.   Stuart Davis, Rapt at Rappaport's, 1952, oil on canvas

92.   Stenberg Brothers, film poster for Idol of the Public, 1925,

Russian large format offset lithograph  50x28"

 

predominant shapes in composition

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

93.   David Carson, from Ray Gun magazine, 1933

94.   Wired magazine editorial illustration, July 1999

 

simple shapes, compositional element and as a kind of  "posterization"

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

95.   Anna Gaitan, stencil , 1998-9,  cut paper, image approx 18" long

96.   Anna Gaitan, Untitled, 1998-9, stencils, spray paint, acrylic and

collage

 

stencil technique

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

97.   Steve Cerio, Untitled, 1998, acrylic on acetate 11.5x9.5"

98.   Ashley Bickerton, Bad, 1988, screenprint 52x48"

 

unshaded shapes  for graphic, reduced iconic forms

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

99.   K. Malevitch, from Suprematism: 34 Drawings, 1920

100.  Civil War era quilt (reproduction), uses shapes as codes/messages

for escaped slaves fleeing the      south (Carolinas)

 

very simple shapes can have meaning ascribed to them, &/or as found in the

shape itself

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

101.  Gino Severini, Dynamic Hieroglyphics of  the Gal T Abarin, 1912,

oil with sequins 64x61

102.  N. Goncharova, from Gardners Over the Vines, 1913 lithographs

 

fractured representation, fractures in the picture plane for multiple and

abstract views

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

103.  Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque, 1977 c-print 102x77cm

104.  Mitsubishi billboard, 1999

 

fractured representational space of real a(a building) and a symbolic (the

feel of a car) space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

105.  David Carson, Eugene, Oregon, 1992, color photograph

106.  Jasper Johns, Flag, 1958, oil

 

an actual sign, and a semiotic sign

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

107.  Faith Ringgold, The Flag is Bleeding, 1967, oil 72x96"

108.  David Hammons, Pray for America, 1974, body print, silkscreen 60x36"

 

two more artists using sign/symbolic resonance of flag

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

109.  Russian Icon, ------------------

110.  Regan to the 12th Power, 12 charicatures of Ronald Regan, c.1980

 

an icon, iconoclasm

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

111.  Robbie Conal, False Profit (Tammy Bakker), 1998, oil, 53x40"

112.  Robbie Conal, False Profit (Jim Bakker), 1998, oil, 53x40"

 

iconoclastic images

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

113.  Italian signage using icons, 2000

114.  Handicapped parking lot icon

 

classic contemporary icons in use

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

115.  Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999 book -reinvented icons

116.  Bad Boy Car Decal---Guy Pissing, late 1990's phenomenon seen on

cars everywhere

 

symbols

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

117.  Deliciosos, corner fruit stand's Mickey Mouse sign, 1997, Los

Angles, CA

118.  Anonymous, from Disneyland Babylon, c. 1995,  'zine

 

because iconic symbols are successful in conveying their meaning (through

reduced forms and  repeated exposure), they make easy targets for

intervention/reinterpretation

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

119.  Apple Computer's building size billboard campaign (think different,

Albert Einstein), 1999

120.  Ryan McGinness, from Flatnessisgod, 1999book- symbols

 

attributed meaning ; another instance of an individual becoming an icon

through repeated exposure

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

121.  Brand New Unit, Indigenous style totem tattoo on unidentified male

122.  Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait, 1993, c-print  of cutting on

artists' back 40x30"

 

symbolic imagery (both the original derivation and in new use on these bodies)

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

123.  Jim Shaw, Charcoal Drawings, 1980, cibacrome print 17x14"

124.  David Carson, ads for Nike, Pepsi, 1995

 

familiar symbols used in a new or exaggerated way

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

125.  Luo Brothers, Welcome to the World's Famous Brands #39, 1997,

lacquer  painting

126.  Luo Brothers, Welcome to the World's Famous Brands #30, 1997,

lacquer  painting

 

global capitalism facilitated through commercial identities, powerful value

as signs

contemporary Western items, represented in a traditional Eastern technique

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

127.  Anonymous artist, from Jim Shaw's Thrift Store Paintings

128.  Lari Pittman, A Decorated Chronology of Insistence and Resignation,

Untitled #28, 1993, acrylic, enamel, glitter 26x20"

 

logos/corporate identity as cultural currency, fair game

 

 

 

 

2-D Fundamentals: Form, Functionality and the Shape of Meaning in Images

 

Laurel Beckman

Department of Art Studio   Fall 2000

Lecture     M 5-6:50 pm  Buchn 1920

 

Lecture #4 Notes

 

Week 4            THE RE- ORGANIZATION OF SPACE-

            ILLUSIONISTIC SPACE, REALISM, LIGHT, VOLUME, VALUE,

PERSPECTIVE & THE

            REPRESENTATION OF MORTALITY AND IMMORTALITY

Illusionistic Space and Realism

Perspective-

Atmospheric Perspective (color and value in)

Linear (mathematical) Perspective- 1, 2, 3 point; achievement through

overlapping, scale, point of view, vanishing points, horizon, eye level,

orthogonal lines, foreshortening; positioning yourself & the viewer

Subjective and Imaginative Perspective, Interpenetration of Planes

The Use of Light- Value, Chiaroscuro, Shading, Lighting, Mood, the Power of

Illusion

Texture

Flesh- In Life,  Death, and the Imagination

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

1.    Saint Chapelle, Stained glass window  detail, Paris, France

2.    Bryce 3D virtual (digital) landscape

 

intro slides, illustionistic space, light, belief

_______________________________________________________________________________

A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF ILLUSIONISTIC/COMPOSITIONAL SPACE STRATEGIES

 

*Pre-Historic cave painting

3.    cave painting

*Egyptian 4000bc-1600bc

4.    stylized for content, all salient aspects featured on same plane

for ease of viewing,    transporting to next realm

------________________________________

 

*Medieval 200bc-1300ad

      dualistic - body and soul- world view, "spiritual, heavenly space"

-where the laws of      material such as gravity do not apply, and is a

model for "earthly space", nothing needs to be grounded

5.    S.S. Quattro Coronati, Cappella di S. Silvester, Envoys of

Constantine & S. Silvester, 1246, flat space

6.    IGN video game virtual interior space

 

both of these spaces assume a dualistic belief system, parallel worlds of

the gravity bound physical (earth), and that of the non-physical (the mind,

the divine)

________________________________

 

Renaissance 1300-1600

      spatial integrity, all objects appear to reside in one continuous,

homogeneous 3-    dimensional space, the illusion of depth through

perspective

7.    Giotto attributed,  Basilica of Assisi, Saint Francis  Expelling

Devils, 1295

8.    Giotto , Padua Arena Chapel Last Judgment, 1304-6

9.    Andrea Mantegna, Saint James Led to Martyrdom, 1455,  center of

projection is     below picture plane

10.   Andrea Pozzo, Triumph of S. Ignazio, 1691-4

*Trinity

       triangle formation, after  the holy trinity

11.   Masaccio, The Trinity with Madonna, St. John and Donors, 1427,

fresco 22x10'

*Baroque 1600 Flanders/Holland

      harmony

12.   Peter Paul Rubens, Felicity of the Regency, 1622-25

*Rococo

13.   Frangonard ,Futile Resistance, 1765-72  France

 

>Re-Flattening of Space Through

*Cubism and early Collage

presenting all information on same plane

14.   Georges Braque , Violin, 1911, oil 70x60cm

15. Pablo Picasso, Cafe a Royan, 1940,  oil 97x130cm

16. Liubou Popova, Figure + House + Space, 1913-14, oil 125x107 cm

17. Kurt Schwitters, Painting With Stars, 1920, collage

*Expressionism

human emotion expressed

18.   Max Beckmann, Family Portrait, 1920, oil 65x100cm

19.   Henri Matisse, Bathers With Turtle, 1908, oil 179x220cm

*Abstraction

20. V. Kandinsky, Little Joys, 1913

21. Joan Miro, Flight of a Bird Over a Plain IV, 1929

22.   Barnett Newman, Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue II, 1967, oil

305x259cm

23.   Stuart Davis, Ultramarine, 1943, oil 51x106cm

*Abstract Expressionism

24.   Franz Kline, Andrus, 1961 oil

25.   Jackson Pollock, One (#31), 1950, oil 270x535cm

26.   Willem de Kooning, Woman IV, 1952-53, oil 150x117cm

27.   Roberto Sebastian Antonio Matta, Listen To Living, 1941, oil 29.5x37.5"

*Confused/Pastiched /Postmodern Space

characterized by an interest in the surface, symbology, semiotics, the '

gaze" of the viewer

28.   Jessica Bronson, World Picture, 1998, video installation

29.   Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #35, 1979, gelatin silver photograph

________________________________

________________________________

 

30.   Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks, 1508, 6'x3.11', and,

      J. M. W. Turner, Norham Castle, Sunrise, 1845-50, oil

31.   John Martin, The Plains of Heaven, 1833, oil 6.10x10'

 

Arial or Atmospheric Perspective:

Based on the optical effect caused by light being absorbed and reflected by

the atmosphere (dust+ moisture); this mist is most dense at Earth's

surface, where it scatters light and distant tones lose contrast; blue

penetrates mist most easily.

The illusion of deep space by lightening values, softening details and

textures, reducing value contrasts and neutralizing colors in objects as

they recede.

 

daVinci defined arial perspective; note the color shift from brown to

blue-green, to clear blue sky

Turner-unearthly delicate; at sunrise cool ground fills air w/moisture,

scatters light and unifies earth and sky.

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

33.   Edward Hopper, New York Corner Saloon, 1913, oil 61x73cm

34.   Agnes Pelton, California Landscape Near Pasadena, 1930, oil 25x30"

 

atmospheric perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

35.   How to linear perspective diagrams

36.   How to linear perspective diagrams

 

Linear perspective concerns the position of the artists' -and by extension,

the viewers eye.

establish a horizon line, eye level, place objects above/at/below that

line; all relative to eye.

 

Linear perspective assumes a fixed, ideal position of artist/viewer. It

assumes that the world - through the field of vision- is ordered for a

single and omnipotent viewer, an omnipotence previously held only by god.

At first perspective was a threat to the influence of the church, but they

soon ceased it as a tool to implicate Jesus as a flesh being, transcended

of course. Perspective's insistence on the importance of the individual

viewer proved a valuable and persuasive tool for the church. It is only the

advent of cinematic space, seen in 2-D collage and photomontage work, that

breaks the hold of perspective. Cinematic space heavily influenced arts

ability to "re-focus" on a subjective imaginary space (Impressionism,

Surrealism, Cubism, Fauvism; emphasizing color, light, and the unconscious).

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

37.   Albrect Dürer, The Draftsmans Net, 1525-38

 

      originally designed by daVinci, who modeled it after Alberti's

grid, the squared       net   stretched over a frame & the artists'

eyepiece, fixing point of view; put 2wce frames       height away from

device; relative position. perspective and foreshortening  tool; model is

posited for our pleasure here. used with monocular- 1 eye closed- vision.

38.   1 Point Perspective diagram

      front or back plane of subject is flat or parallel to the picture plane

      Horizon- analogous to eye level

      Vanishing Point- convergence

      Orthogonal Lines- represent receding parallels, diagonal lines

projected from VP

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

39.   Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1342, tempera on wood  8.5'x5.6'

      pre/early intuitive perspective, single focus (vanishing point) but

actually multiple       receding diagonals; note square floor tiles; inside

& outside simultaneously

40.   Messina, St. Jerome in His Story, 1475, oil and lime 18x14", early

Renaissance idea of     picture as a view out a window; and

      William Hogarth, Perspectival Absurditites, 1754, satire

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

41.   Leonardo daVinci, The Last Supper, 1497, tempera & oil over ground

limestone

      Christ is the vanishing point and dominant in the foreground

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

42.   Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation, 1490, tempera and gold 7.5x12.5"

      how space is created and how the eye is directed to the vanishing

point(s)

43.   Same painting, how it would change if artist had moved location of

point of view

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

44.   Carlo Crivelli, The Annunciation with Saint Emidus, 1486, egg

tempera and oil 6.9'x4.11'

      Renaissance linear perspective

45.   Diego Velasquez, Las Meninas, 1656, oil 10.5x9'

      perspective used as a tool in the narrative structure, sweeping

curves of foreground figures,       softens linearity of room, everyone seems

to be looking at us but actually at the King & Queen (models) to our side

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

46.   David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967, acrylic 96x96"

47.   Richard Artschwager, House, 1966, acrylic on celotex 57x43"

 

one-point perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

48.   Chinese Peasant Painting

49.   Paul Klee, Phantom Perspective, 1920, watercolor  & printing ink

transfer 9.5x12"

 

one-point perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

50.   M. Hobena, 1689, oil 40.75x55.2"   eyes drawn down the road

51.   Vertical projection of units

 

eyes drawn through projecting/pacing objects in space

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

2 Point Perspective

One vertical edge is closest and all top and bottom edges recede & converge

at left or right vanishing points. Viewing the leading edge instead of a

flat plane so that the  geometric solid appears at an angle to line of

sight.

1. Establish horizon line

2. Place vanishing points (in 'reality' they are at edges of our view)

3. Draw closest vertical edge to you

verticals never converge

 

 

52.   2 Point Perspective

53.   Ed Rusha, from the Standard Gas Station series, drawing, 20th c

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

54.   Richard Artschwager, Possible Scratch, 1993, acrylic on celotex,

formica on wood

55.   Peter Caulfield, unknown title and date, British pop era artist, c.

1970

 

two-point perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

56.   anonymous, Digital 3-d dorm building

57.   Francis Alys and E. Rivers, E. Huetra, 1995-6, oil/canvas and

enamel on metal

 

two-point perspective

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

3 Point Perspective

Vantage point is assumed far above or below subject, causing sides and

top/bottom to converge to 3 Vantage Points. Viewing from an  exaggerated

position, worm or bird eye.

1. Locate horizon line

2. Fix left and right Vantage Points

3. A 3rd (vvp) Vantage Point  (representing the viewers location) is

located on a vertical axis, perpendicular to horizon.

 

58.   3 Point Perspective and,

      Gene Bodio, New City, 1992, digital image, birds eye view altered

59.   Robert Williams, Mathematics Takes a Holiday, 1990, oil on canvas

30x36"

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

60.   Oblique Projection

      engineering and architectural applications, seen in Asian art

      Flat, frontal, no converging sides, and,

      Isometric Projection

      used in technical drawing and drafting

      Vertical front edge, non-converging side planes, less apparent

distortion than oblique, +

      Kubo Shunman, 1814, woodblock 8.25x8.25", lines extend forward to

converge

61.   Ando Hiroshige, Cartwheel at Seashore, and , Cat Looking at Fields

at Askusa, both   c.1857, colored woodblock print 14.5x10

 

viewer experiencing scene, tight crop, and, a more 'Western"' perspective

treatment with window and emphasis on foreground

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

62.   Ernst Haas, Rose, 1970, color print, and Time Life Building, c. 1955

63.   Andrea Pozzo, Vault of the Nave of S. Ignazio, Rome, 1691-94,

fresco ceiling, vanishing     point is "God", viewer must stand in the

precisely marked place on floor to see entire   image and have the

difference between painting and architecture vanish

 

Eyewitness Perspective

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64.   Andrea Mantegna,  Oculus, from the Painted Room in the Gonzaga

Palace, Mantua,   1465-74 fresco 8'10" diameter

65.   Andrea Mantegna, Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, 1480, distempera

on canvas

 

dramatic examples of foreshortening, note that Christ has head propped up

for viewer, feet jutting out at viewer

Foreshortening

Parts of an object are diminished so that they appear shorter and narrower

as they recede.

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66.   Judith Baca and collaborators, Uprising of the Mujeres detail,

1979, mural 96x24'

67.   Joan Semmel, Intimacy/Autonomy, 1974, oil 50x98"

 

foreshortening

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68.   Shadow perspective with a given light souse

69.   Edward Hopper, The Sheridan Theater, 1937, oil 43x63cm

 

shadows and edges help define objects in a 3 dimensional space

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70.   Nancy Dwyer, Your Name Here, 1986, enamel on plexiglass with light

71.   Unknown artist, digital image of USA with people

 

dimensional edges

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Subjective Perspective

Of the imaginary, irrational, simultaneous multiple views, fanciful

 

72.   Georgio deChirico, The Disquieting Muses, 1916-17, tempera 37x24,5"

      conflicting styles and cultures (Classical, Ren., 20th cent

industrial imagery), and      multiple viewpoints, each object has it's

own scale and perspective, timelessness &       dislocation, floor boards

extend up way too high

73.   Kay Sage, In The Third Sleep, 1944, oil 100x145cm

surrealist imagery using perspective and shadows

 

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74.   Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Basket of Fruit, 1888-90, oil 26x32"

75.   Paul Cezanne, Fields Over Bellevue, 1892-95, oil 36x50cm

 

multiple vantage points

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76.   Person on scary street, from Jim Shaw's, Thrift Store Paintings,

copper emboss

77.   Sue Coe, from Police State, President Ray Gun Takes a Bath

 

exaggerated perspectives

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78.   Adam Ross, Untitled (at 4), 1998, oil and alkyd on panel, 24x48"

79.   Agnes Denes, Entropy II, III, Amorphous Continents, from Map

Projections, 1979 book

 

exaggerated perspectives to heighten effect

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80.   Anamorphosis example, Hans Holbien the Younger, The Ambassadors, etc

81.   Tony Orsler, Below, 1996, video installation, mixed media

 

device manipulated perspective

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82.   Barbara Hess, Untitled (Food for the Moon), 1986-7, color

photograph 50x67"

83.   Jean Dibbets, 12 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective,

1969 photograph

 

manipulated perspective

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Texture

Surface character of a material that can be experienced through touch or

the illusion of touch

 

84.   Wall Relief, detail, Palace of Sargon II, Mesopotamia, 717-706 bc

85.   Pacific Employment and Training building, exterior decorative wall

 

texture, actual physical, dimensional texture

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86.   Seo-bo Park, Ecriture no. 931215 detail, 1993, mixed media

87.   David Reed, (#351) #13, 1995-96, oil and alkyd on solid ground 13.2x22"

 

texture in paint

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88.   Anselm Kiefer, Grane, 1980-93, woodcut with paint, 13 sheets

mounted on linen 109x98.5"

89.   Emily Carr, Above the Gravel Pit, 1937, oil

 

texture in ink and paint as a record of artists' hand

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90.   Random paint spills outside of UCSB Art Studio painting studio

91.   Michele Stuart, #6, Kingston, New York, 1973, graphite  rubbing

over Kingston earth on muslin mounted on rag paper

 

textural imagery

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92.   Store-bought  wood themed stationary

93.   Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1976, screenprint &

lithograph, 32x43"

 

virtual texture

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94.   Wenda Gu, Temple of Heaven, 1988, installation featuring hair

95.   Pavel Tchelitchew, Hide and Seek, 1940-2, oil 6x7'

 

actual, and emotional /psychological texture

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Value

The relative degree of light and dark, here as articulated in with lighting

and shading

 

96.   Value Key Scale

97.   blank

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98.   Values through light and shadow, desirable, problematic

99.   Values through light and shadow, light emphasizes 3-d qualities and

can flatten

 

value with light, recognition

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100.  Shadow of leaves on drapes

101.  Pop-Tech 2000 ad from Wired Summer 2000, using small photographs

for their value to      make a larger image

 

actual and simulated light value

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102.  Henrik Goltzius,The Large Hercules, 1589, engraving 22.5x16"

103.  Robert Riggs, Psychopathic Ward, 1940, lithograph 14.5x19"

 

shading achieved through course lines

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104.  David Hockney, Banana, 1970, crayon 17x14"

105.  Tom of Finland, unknown title and date, graphite and charcoal c.1975

 

shading, drawing, emotional effect

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106.  Georgia O'Keefe, Drawing XIII, 1915, charcoal 24.5x19"

107.  Tom Knechtal, Ganesha, 1994, pastel 30.5x22"

 

shading, drawing

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108.  Li Shan, Rouge Series no. 59 (Young Mao), 1994, acrylic, 45x79"

109.  Ed Rusha, Chain and Cable, unknown media and date, c.1985, painting

 

airbrush  and blur effect in painting

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110.  Andy Warhol, Electric Chair, 1965, silkscreen on canvas 24x28"

111.  Theo Westenberger, transgenic pigs photograph from Smithsonian

magazine 1998

 

use of light for dramatic effect, harsh light, blown out detail contributes

to cold, removed feeling

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112.  Edward Weston, both images: Nude, 1936, photographs

113.  Christian Boltanski, Monument Canada, 1998, b&w photos, clothes,

lamps 110x70x7"

 

lighting for dramatic effect in photography, in this case eliciting desire,

longing, memory

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Chiaroscuro:

Italian for "bright-dark", dramatic contrasts of light and shade. Used as a

device to model the figure and forms (draping), as well as for spiritual

and narrative impact.

In Caravaggio's case, his intense chiaroscuro  is known as "Tenebrism".

Makes value an instrument of exaggeration characteristic of Baroque strong

contrasts, drama.

 

114.  Caravaggio, St. John the Baptist, 1604-5, oil 5.8x4.11'

115.  Carravagio, Victorious Amor, 1601-2, oil 154x110cm

 

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116   Georges de la Tour, Le Nouveu-Ne, 17thcentury, oil .76x.91m

117.  Jan Vermeer,The Geographer, c17thcentury Holland, oil 51.6x45.4cm

 

"painting with light", enhancing mood, fabric

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118.  Sharon Lockhart, Goshogaoka Girls Basketball Team detail, 1997,

c-print 32x98"

119.  Donald Roller Wilson, In the Evening-Later on the Day That Gladys

Rested;...She Fell      Asleep on the Table An Her Spirit Lifted Slowly,

1975, oil 41x41

 

contemporary examples of chiaroscuro

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120.  J. M. W. Turner, Harbour With Town and Fort London, c.1930, oil

172x223cm

121.  Claude Monet, Autumn at Argenteuil, 1873, oil 50x75cm

 

critical use of light to render and transmit an experience of seeing not

tied to pictorial realism

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122.  James Turrell,--------------------

123.  Liisa Roberts, Trap Door, 1996, installation,  projected 16 mm

films on 4 screens

 

projected light, colored and interrupted

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