P2 Documentation
Rigid//Fluid
The inspiration for Rigid is organized, upright structures where each block has its fixed place. I placed the squares up against the edges of the border to emphasize the inability to move. The graduated step pattern is chosen to evoke puzzle pieces that only fit together in 1 way. Using gestalt theory, the brain sees the pattern and mentally pushes them together. The contrast of the white space diagonal across the center with the stacked black boxes makes them appear even more solid.
Fluid is inspired by falling water. The image is understood in the context of gravity because the liquid shoots out then falls exponentially. Further the block starts as one large mass and cascades to smaller and smaller “droplets” to suggest lightness and adaptable pathways. I continued to work with squares parallel to the frame edges to bring continuity between Rigid and Fluid images. The scale of the fluid boxes is larger and smaller than the Rigid boxes, balancing the two images. I used the rule of thirds to place the cascading squares down the left third of the grid. Further, the images pair together by filling inverse space on the page. Rigid has boxes constrained immovable, against the sides while Fluid is move through the center to suggest freer movement.
Process
My initial sketches explored structures that were imperiously balanced to suggest nothing could be moved and stacked parallel boxes at right angles. Stacks of single boxes felt too free like they could sway in the wind so I moved to fill the space to suggest claustrophobic and packed places. I ended up exploring my final sketch idea with graduated steps sliding together in 1 formation.
For fluid, I thought about what made up large moving bodies of liquid and explored waves, waterfalls, foundations, and rippling lakes with reverberations on a liquid surface. Initially, all of my drawings moved left to right — falling down to the right because, as we discussed in class, we read, look, and therefore process left to right. However, in my digital iterations, I flipped the cascade to call right to left to mirror the rigid statue and bring more contrast between the two. Forcing the eye to follow the action from top right to bottom left evokes more motion.
For rigid, I explored many iterations of the “puzzle piece” concept of stepped stairs that fit together as well as grids of different spacing. The longer steps emphasized that the two pieces were of a whole rather than just diagonal stairs. I recognized the opposing symmetry of the Rigid and Fluid filling opposite space.
Passive//Active
The Passive image evokes stillness by contrasting the imposing, black grid with a singular isolated, smaller yellow block locked in a cage. The solid square wall bleeds off the edge of the page. Using Gestalt theory, the brain assumes the immobile structure extends beyond the our frame, further creating an even greater contrast in size to the small yellow block. The yellow block and the surrounding white space draw the eye to the bottom right corner and hold it there, so the viewer participates in the passivity. The corner white space is bordered by much smaller black squares. These smaller black squares almost form a fence to further emphasize the yellow square cannot move. The smaller squares create an even greater contrast with the large black squares and the white space. It serves as a detail that can carry over from Passive to Active.
Active mirrors the structure and scale of the Passive piece, but inverts details to create energy. The medium sized yellow square becomes a solid black square in motion, bouncing off the walls of the frame. The eye follows the tracks in a zigzag pattern, creating motion. The solid black blocks become a bright yellow, sending them into the background and creating a vibrant yellow. Yellow was chosen because its an active color, that vibrates to the eye. Yellow and black reference the colors of a highway. The medium black square now dominates the large squares, suggesting the square “broke free.” The white space remains in the bottom right corner to mirror Passive and emphasize that the medium square is no longer still in a corner.
Process
For Active, my initial sketches were inspired by a ball bouncing in a box or the tracks of something running around. I played with spacing and size to show acceleration, explosions, a shooting start, and reverberations.
For Passive, I explored pathways that didn’t cross or moved at right angles to contrast my active pathways. I tried clumping large and small blocks to protect fear or intimidation on the small blocks. I created an image with a clear hole and a block not filling that hole. I explored filling the space to create a heaviness to suggest immobility.
For active, a single shooting block did not portray energy and movement and was not continuous with the solid, block for Passive. I next tried creating activity through chaos and random tracks of various shapes and sizes. The randomly placed blocks felt as if they were fighting or trampling each other. I moved the anomaly square in passive to the corner so it felt less oppressed or crushed and more trapped. I saw an oppertunity to use color to add energy to the image, and explored “active” colors: yellow and red. These are fairly bold colors and suggest energy or agitation. I chose yellow because it vibrates to the eye and evokes highway markings. I carried the yellow over to the small passive block. While not necessary, the color made the block even more attention grabbing as an anomaly and softened the edges, suggesting it is no match for the large, solid black boxes. I tried removing the small line of squares forming the “fence,” but felt that the square was let free to move, the small/medium/large contrast was lost, and it is a nice detail to bring continuity to the image pairs.
Figure//Ground
For Figure//Ground, I adapted Graceful. I aimed to create reversible black or white currents inspired by flight, the ocean, and dancing. Both the black and white patterns reach the thickest point at the bottom of its sweep and narrow as they lift upward, for lightness. The figure//ground, I noticed it is easier to force the eye to reverse the image when the white and black images are of the same scale so one does not dominate the other. Also, the eye tends to assume the background color of the entire frame is then the background of the composition. So putting the image on a black background makes it easier to see back as the background of the composition.
Clumsy also operates as a 50/50 white black composition, that appears a grid of black squares or a white mangled fence.
(Clumsy//Graceful)
The Figure//Ground composition with 50% white, 50% black came from Clumsy//Graceful. For Clumsy, I wanted to contrast an orderly grid with an anomaly square that clearly stands out from the parallel lines. The square is angled and out of place. The surrounding squares also break formation slightly suggesting the anomaly square bumbled around and bumped the others. The harsh, orderly grid makes the disrupted grid even more distracting.
For Graceful, I wanted to show coordinated motion and lightness from curved and flowing lines. The lowest sweep of the curve uses squares of similar scale to Clumsy then they get smaller and spread out as the flow upwards. The lines move in parallel and narrow and fall to suggest movement.
Process
For Clumsy, I wanted to show contrast between order and chaos to suggest the blumbly movement. So I create piles of blocks that were in the midst of falling or crumbing on the ends. I tried various forms of anomaly blocks that clearly stand out, whether by location or scale. I tried creating chaos with randomly placed blocks or filling the space in a random way with tilting blocks not perpendicular to the frame.
For Graceful, I thought of a twisting ballerina or a flying bird with curved and looping lines. What distinguished Fluid from Graceful in my mind was deliberate and coordinated movement so I tried multiple lines moving in unison. I tried tapering lines with movement to suggest lightness.
The Figure//Ground composition, I played with spacing vertically, and stretching the squares horizontally to identify at which spacing they appeared most continuous but also light and fluid. Condensing them horizontally appeared congested, and clunky — the opposite of graceful. Stretching too far vertically appeared separate entities rather than, coordinated movement. For Clumsy, a smaller scale block was easier to reverse with the eye because the black and white merged to the same scale.
