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Art is a language. Formal elements (Module 4) as well as materials and techniques (Module 5) are like letters and words. Composition or the organization of elements and materials (in this module) then is like visual or aural grammar. Adding the principles of art or design to the elements, materials and techniques is akin to applying the rules of grammar on words (Bradley).
Balance, proportion, rhythm, unity in variety, emphasis, and movement are some of the means an artist uses to organize elements within an art work.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
After completing the module, students should be able to:
Discuss the principles of composition across art forms; and
Explain how the interrelation among elements and among principles produce meanings.
Composition
Composition
Composition is the organization or arrangement of formal elements (see Module 4) in an artwork (Kleiner 7, 425).
For instance, shapes and colors may be repeated or varied, as well as balanced symmetrically or asymmetrically. The objectives of the artist and the context of time and place the work was produced determine such artistic choices (Stokstad xxiii).
Artists from various cultures and periods have devised different ways to create illusions of recession into space (pictorial depth) on a flat surface. Systems of perspective have been used in some European art. On the other hand, recession is avoided in other cultures to emphasize surface rather than space (Stokstad xxiii).
Activity 6.1. Composition in Space
Activity 6.1. Composition in Space
A. Read Alice G. Guillermo, “Composition in Space,” in Art and Society (Quezon City: [Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters,] University of the Philippines, 1997), 87-105. (This article is currently not available on MyPortal.)
Bring a magazine or newspaper to class. Select advertisements from the magazine or newspaper to unpack the following key words and concepts: pictorial field, formal and informal balance, golden section, rhythm as repetition, unity in variety, and dominance and subordination.
B. Formal analysis. Identify your favorite film or theatrical or dance production. Procure a digital copy of its poster and analyze how elements of art such as line, shape, color, and texture were arranged according to principles of organization. What feelings, ideas and values were suggested by such arrangements?
Movement
Movement
In the visual arts, movement is the flow the viewer’s eyes take through the work of art. It can be directed along lines, shapes, and colors within the work (Getty Museum). The use of recurring elements creates a sense of action or motion.
Works with a strong sense of movement like Carlos Francisco’s Filipino Struggles through History and Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Guiding the People heighten their revolutionary theme. In his “meta-matic sculpture”, Swiss artist Jean Tinguely made movement the entire meaning of the work (Guillermo, 105-107).
Dance is the quintessential art of movement. Movements of the head, arms, fingers, torso, legs, and feet in indigenous and traditional dances convey social values like harmony between community and nature (Guillermo, 107-108).
Movement is likewise important in both theater and cinema. Theater has a direct live performer-audience relationship which creates a dynamic audience participation. Cinema, consisting of moving images projected onto a screen, has three interrelated modes of movement: actors, camera, and film editing and syntax (Guillermo 108-110).
Activity 6.2. Movement
Activity 6.2. Movement
Allot 45 minutes
A. Read Alice G. Guillermo, “Movement,”in Art and Society (Quezon City: [Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters,] University of the Philippines, 1997), 105-110. (Available on MyPortal.)
Watch Insider, “How One Movie Trilogy Ruined Action Films Forever,” YouTube, 05 May 2018 (embedded here). What emotions are elicited by Bourne Trilogy’s editing style of shaky cameras and quick cuts? Why were some action films appropriated unsuccessful in their appropriation of this movement?
B. Cultural mapping. Identify five artworks in your community. Examine how they expressed movement and conveyed meaning. If two-dimensional, was there a recurrence of motif? An alternation or progression in a series? What was the direction of the lines? If three-dimensional, is the sense of movement implied or actual? If dance, what social values are revealed by the hand gestures, steps, pose, as well as the movements of the head, arms, and torso?
Activity 6.3. Reverse poetry
Activity 6.3. Reverse poetry
Read and write a reaction to the poem, Worst Day Ever by Chanie Gorkin.
How does its composition and movement shape its meaning? Discuss how the reverse poem sound pessimistic/negative when read in one direction (forwards, top to bottom), and optimistic/positive when read in the opposite direction (backwards, bottom to top).
Worst Day Ever?
by Chanie Gorkin
Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don’t try to convince me that
There’s something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.
And it’s not true that
It’s all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness cannot be attained
Only if one’s surroundings are good.
It’s not true that good exists
I’m sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It’s all beyond my control
And you’ll never in a million years hear me say that
Today was a very good day.
Now read it from bottom to top, the other way,
And see what I really feel about my day.
Activity 6.4. Play analysis
Activity 6.4. Play analysis
What was the intention of the playwright in writing the play? What was the director’s interpretation of the play? How did the different elements (such as the costumes, make-up, props, sets, lights, music and other special effects) affect the performance? Was the production successful in putting across its message to you as the audience? Support your answer.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In the language of art, artists organize elements and materials to communicate visually, verbally, and kinesthetically.
Module 6 Supplement
Module 6 Supplement
Activity S6.1: Alexandr Sokurov's films
Activity S6.1: Alexandr Sokurov's films
Allot 3 hours
Watch Alexandr Sokurov’s “Mother and Son” and “Russian Ark.” The first film was critically-acclaimed in international film festivals as something painting-like in capturing emotions. The second film is known to have been a full-length feature done in one shot. Discuss the difference in movement in the two films .
Activity S6.2: Daddy's Car
Activity S6.2: Daddy's Car
Listen to the song Daddy's Car by clicking this link or playing the following embedded sound file below:
Avoiding looking at your screen while you play the music. Do not read the description of the song or the comments left by others viewers.
What do you think of how the musical ideas in Daddy's Car were organized?
Who do you think the artist is? Whose style or which band are your reminded of when you listen to the song?
Now read about how this song was composed. How does this new knowledge about Daddy's Car affect your definition of art?
Activity S6.3 (COVID-19 Special Activity): How movement and space is restrictive or freeing during during the COVID-19 crisis
Activity S6.3 (COVID-19 Special Activity): How movement and space is restrictive or freeing during during the COVID-19 crisis
What kind of physical activity/ies have you been focusing on since the start of the community quarantine? What kind of physical activities have you seen artists do during quarantine that you would like to adopt as your own practice? Would you consider this art? Discuss in the forum.
Activity S6.4 (COVID-19 Special Activity): Participatory Art
Activity S6.4 (COVID-19 Special Activity): Participatory Art
Participatory art can help people come together during a time of crisis by providing the community a chance to express themselves or tell a story, together. The By You Tapestry (whose title is a play on the famous Bayeux Tapestry) invites people to contribute to a large-scale artwork through the medium of embroidery. The project is based in the UK, but anyone from around the world can contribute. For this activity, contribute to the project by embroidering a section that will be integrated in the final work. (Note that you will need to mail your contribution to the UK.)
Can you find any other examples of COVID-19-related participatory art that you or your classmates could contribute to?
Readings, Resources, and References
Readings, Resources, and References
Required Readings
Guillermo, Alice G. (1997). “Composition in Space” in Art and Society.Quezon City: Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines, 87-105.
Guillermo, Alice G. (1997). “Movement” in Art and Society.Quezon City: Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines 105-110.
References
“6th Grade English Poetry Lit Cafe: #4 Reverse Poetry.”William Annin Middle School. Last updated 21 July 2017. https://libguides.bernardsboe.com/c.php?g=701044&p=4974432. Accessed 24 July 2018.
Bradley, Steven. (2010). “Visual Grammar: How to Communicate without Words.”Vanseo Design. https://vanseodesign.com/web-design/visual-grammar/. Accessed 24 July 2018.
Datuin, Flaudette May V., Roberto Paulino, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, and Louise Marcelino. (2010). “Elements of Art and Principles of Composition.”In Philippine Contemporary Art in the Regions. Manila: Rex Book Store, 101-111.
de Leon, Felipe M., Jr. “The Elements and Principles of Organization in the Arts.”In On Art, Man & Nature: Selected Readings in the Humanities, edited by Felipe M. de Leon Jr, 83-96. Quezon City: Jingle Clan Pub, 1978.
de Leon, Felipe M., Jr. “The Elements and Structures of Music.”In On Art, Man & Nature: Selected Readings in the Humanities, edited by Felipe M. de Leon Jr, 99-107. Quezon City: Jingle Clan Pub, 1978.
Gorkin, Chanie. “Worst Day Ever?”Poetry Nation. n.d. http://www.poetrynation.com/poem.php?id=50509. Accessed 27 July 2015.
Guillermo, Alice G. “Reading the Image.”In Image to Meaning:Essays on Philippine Art, 1-16. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001.
G[uillermo], A[lice] G., and P[atrick] D. F[lores]. Introduction to “The Text of Art.”In Art and Society, managing editor Patrick D. Flores, 30. Quezon City: [Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters,] University of the Philippines, 1997.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages. 14thed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014.
Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael W. Cothren. Art History. 5thed. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2014.
The J. Paul Getty Trust.“Principles of Design.”The J. Paul Getty Museum. [2011?] http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis2.html. Accessed 17 Feb 2017.
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