How does the level of complexity in a design direct your interpretation of it? A controversial argument is whether the viewer’s emotional perception of a piece of artwork defines its success, rather than its aesthetic qualities. Throughout the history of design, people have responded differently with their own personal opinions to various artistic movements, styles, and pieces in particular. Depending on the individual, the perceived meaning of a single design can differ extensively and offer multiple interpretations that suggest the actual meaning of a piece. Throughout this essay I will look particularly at the stylistic differences between the complexity of cubism and how it differs from the aesthetics of minimalism-‐assessing the emotional perception taken from each of the styles and their influence on modern design. From the middle of the 19th century up until the First World War, the world was undergoing a profound technological revolution; new inventions such as locomotives and photography were changing the way artists perceived the world. Artist’s responded to the technologically advancing world through experimentation with new styles of art such as impressionism and fauvism -‐ styles that deviated from traditional forms of artwork. From these experimental styles, the cubist movement became arguably the most radical turning point in the history of art, confusing many traditionalist artists at the time, as the complete distortion of reality was a concept yet to be explored. The inception of the Cubist movement in 1908 was pioneered by the collaboration of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, artist’s who had taken influence from the geometric representations of objects by Paul Cezanne, as well as concepts derived from the expressiveness of African art. Cubists challenged the natural and realistic depictions of real people, places or objects, and produced compositions where shapes and forms would become abstracted and would ‘give us a view of the world which did not conform to the vision we had learned’. The artist’s ethos was to depict
objects emotionally, rather than naturally as they appear. In their first mature form of cubism, ‘Analytical Cubism’ (1908-‐1912), this was achieved by analysing the structure of an object, which proposed a visual style that offered a complete distortion of reality. Analytical cubism is often characterised by its abstraction and intricate complexity that has been of significant influence to many modern day painters, architects, and graphic designers. In this style, objects would be ‘analysed’ and broken down into basic geometric forms where three-‐dimensional objects are represented as two-‐ dimensional abstractions. The Cubists were determined to examine the way we visualised objects. Typical paintings would depict a subject fragmented into many intricate shapes not only from a single viewpoint, but at various angles simultaneously. This utilisation of perspective demonstrated a new way of expressing human emotions, as well as shifting between two and three-‐dimensions. Georges Braque – ‘The Portuguese’ 1911 One of the founders of Cubism, Georges Braque, was a French painter who explored the styles of impressionism, fauvism, collage and even stage design throughout his artistic career. His oil on canvas 'The Portuguese' is arguably one of his most iconic and influential pieces due to the way it exemplified the intricacy and abstraction of analytical cubism. I wanted to focus on Braque particularly as I felt the complexity within his designs demonstrated how a detailed piece of artwork is able to contain many ideas and images within a single image. The deviation from a realistic style with cubism has allowed Braque to explore many aspects not possible with traditionalist painting.
Depicting a Portuguese man playing a guitar seen in a bar in Marseille (a personal experience several years prior to painting), the abstraction of the piece allows the figure to be seen from many differentiating and alternating perspectives. Braque's 'analysis' of the experience has seen the figure fragmented into many geometric forms; some appearing to fuse with one another and others almost appearing transparent. It is possible the fragmentation in this particular piece reflects the distortion of his memory, as the experience may have lost its clarity after several years. Helen Gardner, author of Gardner's Art Through the Ages, suggests the artist 'carried out his analysis so far that the viewer must work diligently to discover clues to the subject'. Looking at the intricate geometry of the shapes, recognising a solid human characteristic such as a nose or shoulder is almost immediately cancelled out by a different way of identifying the figure. The shift in imagery created from this induces a sense of depth and a change in perspective, where the viewer is able to explore the man and guitar in an almost three-‐dimensional way. Another way the artist utilises the complexity of a piece is through the composition of the design. Braque draws the attention of the viewer into the centre of the piece with a more concentrated and intricate arrangement of geometric shapes-‐compared to the sparse arrangement around the edges of the composition. By drawing the focus of the viewer into the centre of the design, they are able to concentrate on identifying the abstracted forms more intimately. Additionally, he utilises a brown monochromatic and subdued colour scheme in order to prevent the viewer's attention from being distracted from the form of the design-‐the most important aspect of cubism. Different levels of shading applied to each geometric shape assist in promoting the three-‐dimensional perspective and appear as if shadows have been cast on the figure and guitar. Braque's 'The Portuguese' signifies the analytical cubism movement and highlights the effect complexity and design can have onto the viewer-‐allowing different perspectives and spatial representations to be identified in a single two-‐dimensional image.
David Hockney – ‘Mother 1, Yorkshire Moors’ 1985
Born in Bradford 1937, David Hockney is considered one of Britain's most influential artist's of the 20th century. Interested in the perception of how we depict space and time, Hockney's most iconic designs, his detailed photocollage's (known as 'joiner's' by the artist), became a way for the viewer to effectively read space. His joiner 'Mother 1, Yorkshire Moors' highlights the direct influence the artist has taken from cubism. Using his own mother as the subject of the joiner, Hockney has experimented with multiple fractured viewpoints in his photography, utilising different perspectives to envisage a three-‐dimensional image on a two-‐dimensional surface. Although influence has been taken from cubism, Hockney's piece has not been abstracted, as it depicts an accurate representation of his mother's face only in a fragmented composition. As a personal reflection, I find the piece to concieve a melancholic tone, where the many intricate photographs and encompassing perspective around her face perhaps represent the entire span of the ageing woman's life; all in a single composition. The realistic, seemingly unaltered appearance of each photo aids in conveying the a realistic interpretation of viewpoints, as in each single photograph, Hockney's mother appears exactly as she would in reality. Overall, the intricacy created from the many individual photographs assist in creating a larger, more poignant image. In this piece particularly, Hockney depicts the way complexity in design is able to allude an emotional response from the viewer, utilising a personal subject, his mother, as the fragmented subject of the design.
As a reaction against the self-‐expressive and personal characteristics of the post-‐war Abstract Expressionist movement, the 1960’s saw the emergence of the Minimalist movement – a new form of abstract art that attempted to strip back the ‘unnecessary’ aesthetics of expressive artwork so that it could expose the viewer to the reality of the subject. Where art is usually understood as a representation of an object or experience, the minimalists wanted to remove any personal connections to the artist-‐this was in order to engage the viewer in having a greater, more direct reaction to the object itself. Formulated in New York, the founders of the movement aimed to expose the raw elements of a design, reducing the number of colours, shapes and texture to create a simplistic, neutral and impersonal design without the distraction of visual metaphors or symbolism. Arguably sharing a similar trait to cubism, minimalism is often recognised by its geometric forms, however unlike cubism minimalists followed the ideology that ‘less is more’, contrary to the detail and complexity of analytical cubism. It’s simple form often allowed for the design’s raw materials to be exposed, deliberately dampening the design’s expressional connection from the artist, and placing more emphasis on its form.