An Introduction to Rhythm in Design and Communication by Locale Media Company, LLC

Design & Communication | ARTS102

An Introduction t Rhythm

Understanding visual art, design, communication and its functions through traditional and contemporary delivery.

Design & Communication | ARTS10

Design & Communication: RHYTHM THE PRINCIPLE OF RHYTHM IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION - OVERVIEW Visual rhythm is created by the designer moving the viewer’s eye across and around an image usually through repetition of various structural elements. It is the pattern of movements created by the way marks and spaces are organized. Visual rhythm needs contrast to function, whether it is soft versus hard, dark versus light, slow versus hectic It is achieved in the same ways we create emphasis, but with the added element of a progressive repetition within the composition One thing we must consider in developing visual rhythm is the negative shapes, or “white spaces,” that are the equivalent of silence in music…without the rest areas the design would be a

jumble of shapes without pattern or structure In the photo by Harry Callahan, top, the black grasses become the notes and the white spaces of the snow become intervals of silence or rests in musical terms. The framing of the image by the photographer takes a natural event and turns it into a rhythmic movement across the composition Edward Weston’s photographs also promote rhythm in nature. Here curvilinear form is repeated to create a visual movement in and around the image. Notice that in looking at this image, bottom, your eye never really comes to a rest, but continues to ow through the composition

Rhythm

Curvilinear Form and the Concept of “Legato” Repetition of curvilinear lines enhance expressive power and movement in the fashion illustration at right by Jacqueline Bissett. Notice that they are not anatomically correct, but the line and washes respond to the movement and the character of the models and clothing presented In musical notation the term Legato is used to indicate music without breaks between notes, smooth and connected, structured and continuous. In reference to visual art the term Legato can denote connected and owing movements. ABOVE: “Arrest,” Karin Davie, 72” x 96,” oil on canvas, 1998

LU CTUS Rhythm

Here in this abstract paintings by Karin Davie multiple curving forms repeat and overlap each other to create a constantly moving rhymes sensation. The viewer’s eye cannot rest in any part of the image but is skillfully moved from one area to the next by the pattern and repetition of light and dark and thick and thin

“Between my Eye and Heart no. 12,” Karin Davie, 66” x 84,” oil on canvas 2005

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Rectilinear Form and Staccato

Opposite of the slow, owing movements of the below are the rapid, staccato changes in rhythm presented here in these paintings by Piet Mondrian. Staccato refers to violent, abrupt changes in the rhythm just as it does in music. Note that while the images are composed on grids, giving them unity, the intervals of the grids themselves and the color notations within them move the viewer quickly through with sharp turns and movements The Larry Poons painting far right has dispersed short brush strokes working in multiple directions creating a staccato rhythm within the picture plane.

“Broadway Boogie-Woogie,” Piet Mondrian, 50” x 50,” oil on canvas,1942

“Glass Coach Louisville,” Larry Poons, oil on canvas 2007

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Alternating Rhythm Alternating rhythm is the simplest type of rhythm to achieve. It is the placement of opposites in a repetitive pattern. As it is so simple, it can become monotonous. Artists work with other elements such as color to add subtlety to the imagery, as in this landscape painting, below, by Wolf Kahn or abstract painting, right, by Gene Davis

“Passion Flower,” Gene Davis, Screenprint, 1968 “Small Orange Corner,” Wolf Kahn, 26” x 26,” oil on canvas, 2009

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Islamic Art and Pattern Alternating rhythm can be found in the genre of Islamic art, a tradition of using geometric decorative motifs to express natural designs. The use of geometry is important in the development of Islamic design. The use of purely geometric elements to create elaborate patterns, though, has become a sophisticated form of decoration on its own. The appeal of Islamic decoration lies in its logical interrelation of parts, reflecting in abstract form the underlying order found in nature Among the most important aspects of Islamic geometric design are repetition and variation. A series of tiles, for example, may consist of only one or two shapes but the patterns of the tiles may all be different. In other designs, a few different shapes may be combined to create a complex interlocking pattern. Symmetry plays a part in most Islamic patterns

Progressive Rhythm

In progressive rhythm, each time a motif repeats

This evocation of elapsed time in a static

it changes a little, transforming and translating in

composition uses progressive rhythm to repeat

a steady sequence - the motif progresses from

yet change the forms used to indicate the form

one thing to another

in motion

Addressing what he later called “the problem of

In the relief sculpture “Case with 5 Balusters,”,

motion in painting,” Marcel Duchamp, seen far

below, by Louise Nevelson, we see a change in

right, repeats elements of the nude’s body in her

size and form that is repetitive in tone, material,

nal steps down a precipitous spiral staircase.

and spatially dynamic

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The paintings here are examples of Op Art by Bridget Riley. Op Art captured the imagination of the public and became part of the “swinging sixties”. The fashion, design and advertising industries fell in love with its graphic, sign-like patterns and decorative value. The basis of the Op Art movement was a form of geometric abstraction, which was in a way impersonal and not obviously related to the real world. Patterns in black and white would undergo changes in form or tone to create illusions of space or movement, classic examples of progressive rhythm

The zigzag black and white lines in Blaze, left, create the perception of a circular decent. As the brain interprets the image, the progressively alternating pattern appears to shift back and forth. The interlocking lines add depth to the form as it rhythmically curves around the center of the page. In “Breathe,” Bridget Riley, right, here again the subtle changes of form create movement across the picture plane through progressive change

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Rhythm in Written Communication: Calligraphy The earliest examples of calligraphy come from China, where the art form was practiced as far back as 2,000 B.C. Early examples of Chinese calligraphy display a great deal of variation in character shape due to the lack of a standardized writing system Calligraphy is the design and placement of hand lettering with a broad tip style pen, ink dip pen, or calligraphic brush. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be de ned as, "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner. Okay Cat Art of Japanese Calligraphy

Modern calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to ne-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable Calligraphy continues to ourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design and typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, announcements, graphic design and commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions, and memorial documents. It is also used for props and moving images for lm and television, testimonials, birth and death certi cates, maps, and other written works

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Calligraphy Sacred Western calligraphy has some special features, such as the illumination of the rst letter of each book or chapter in medieval times. A decorative "carpet page" may precede the literature, lled with ornate, geometrical depictions of bold-hued animals. The Lindisfarne Gospels (715–720 AD) are an early example As with Chinese or Islamic calligraphy, Western calligraphic script employed the use of strict rules and shapes. Quality writing had a rhythm and regularity to the letters, with a "geometrical" order of the lines on the page. Each character had, and often still has, a precise stroke order Unlike a typeface, irregularity in the characters' size, style, and colors increases aesthetic value, though the content may be illegible

Abstract Rhythm Observe the work of the painter Jackson Pollock. Linear rhythms of skeins of paint are built up over the surface of the canvas, and the work process is as much a “dance” as any other physical exercise. To view a Pollack painting video please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfwUxQrDGqw To visit more Pollack works online http://www.jackson-pollock.org/

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Comparing and Contrasting HOW ARTISTS USE RHYTHM DIFFERENTLY

Louise Nevelson emerged in the art world amidst the dominance of the Abstract Expressionist movement. In her most iconic works, she utilized wooden objects that she gathered from urban debris piles to create her monumental installations Although Nevelson's artistic subject matter included her personal feelings about an uprooted childhood, clashing cultures, and nature's divinity, the common thread of feminine biography dominated her output. Nevelson purposefully selected wooden objects for their evocative potential to call to mind the forms of the city, nature, and the celestial bodies. In the collages of wood, masonite, paper and metal she works simple alternating rhythms evolving out of the simple geometric shapes she develops. (Cited from below www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org

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LU CTUS Rhythm Compare & Contrast in Fine Art

Contrast Nevelson’s work with that of Romare Bearden, whose rhythms develop into frenetic changes and combinations of drawn and painted areas with bits of photographs and fabric. Bearden’s work could be considered to have Staccato rhythm Romare Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and died in New York City on March 12, 1988, at the age of 76. His life and art are marked by exceptional talent, encompassing a broad range of intellectual and scholarly interests, including music, performing arts, history, literature and world art. Bearden was also a celebrated humanist, as demonstrated by his lifelong support of young, emerging artists His collages, watercolors, oils, photomontages and prints are imbued with visual metaphors from his past in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Harlem and from a variety of historical, literary and musical sources. Recognized as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the twentieth century, Romare Bearden had a proli c and distinguished career. He experimented with many different mediums and artistic styles, but is best known for his richly textured collages. Cited from below, please visit the website for more information http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/biography/biography.shtml

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm

Compare & Contrast Rhythm in Fine Art: Beardon

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Compare & Contrast Rhythm

In a larger format of gallery wall installations, we see similarities to the two artists above in the divergent approaches of painters Sol Lewitt and Daniel Buren Sol LeWitt earned a place in the history of art for his leading role in the Conceptual movement. Conceptual art, expounded by LeWitt as an intellectual, pragmatic act, added a new dimension to the artist's role that was distinctly separate from the romantic nature of Abstract Expressionism. LeWitt's work ranged from sculpture, painting, and drawing to almost exclusively conceptual pieces that existed only as ideas or elements of the artistic process itself. (Cited from theartstory.com http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lewitt-sol.htm LeWitt's re ned vocabulary of visual art consisted of lines, basic colors and simpli ed shapes. He applied them according to formulae of his own invention, which hinted at mathematical equations and architectural speci cations, but were neither predictable nor necessarily logical. In the wall paintings shown here, notice the rhythms set up by the curvilinear lines and repetitions within the wall compositions

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CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Compare & Contrast Rhythm in Fine Art: LeWitt

LeWitt's re ned vocabulary of visual art consisted of lines, basic colors and simpli ed shapes. He applied them according to formulae of his own invention, which hinted at mathematical equations and architectural speci cations, but were neither predictable nor necessarily logical. In the wall paintings shown here, notice the rhythms set up by the curvilinear lines and repetitions within the wall compositions

CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Compare & Contrast Rhythm in Fine Art: Buren Compare this with work of a similar nature, both in scale and concept, by artist Daniel Buren Daniel Buren is a site-speci c artist whose imagery consists of vertical stripes. The stripes are a “visual instrument” that allow him to appropriate and transform space with paintings, sculptures and installations. As described by the Bortolami Dayan Gallery, he uses the generality of stripes “to create an art that de es a traditional de nition of art as an object for aesthetic contemplation—[his work challenges] the conventional notions of where art can be seen and how it can be understood.” (cited from crownpoint.com http://www.crownpoint.com/artists/91/biographical-summary

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CHA PTER 2 Rhythm Terms & De nitions

Alternating rhythm a rhythm created by repeating two or more elements on a regular, interchanging, and anticipated basis Legato A connected and owing rhythm Progressive Rhythm Repetition of shape that changes in a regular pattern, such as a series of circles that increase or decrease in size Staccato Abrupt, sometimes violent, changes in visual rhythm Visual Rhythm The pattern of movements created by the way marks and spaces are organized.

Objectives • Begin to visually communicate RHYTHM in a compositio • Use repetition, balance and unity in a compositio • To continue to develop technical skills in art making and design

Helpful Tip For software users, lters/effects are a great way to get started, try using Filter>Distort>Twirl>Shear - or similar actions to create interesting abstract lines. If using traditional materials like paint or markers, perhaps consider how a textured or colored paper might change the line or color to help communicate your idea

ASSIGNMENT PART 1: Using the principles of Unity, Emphasis and Balance learned so far, you will create images representing four themes: LAZY RIVER, IDLING HARLEYDAVIDSON, SEISMIC EVENT and SLOW DANCING MUSIC. These images should be be non-objective and/or ABSTRACT in nature. Use line and strokes of different weights, length, color and direction along with repetition to visually represent the SOUNDS these themes might take on. There are no right or wrong answers.

ASSIGNMENT PART 2 Please respond thoughtfully to the following questions regarding your artwork. Please write your answers in the “add comments” section of the drop box when uploading your image. Engage me as your instructor and audience by responding to the questions below as a self evaluation 1. How did you perceive the sound in each theme 2. Tell me about the colors you used.. why did you choose them? 3. What did you learn that is new from your nished work 4. What might you try is you had more time

Make 4 compositions using line to describe the visual attributes of the sounds listed above. You will create one design for each theme. Feel free to explore through software or traditional materials such as pen ink or paint; add visual enhancements - if you feel compelled.

This assignment is worth 20 points. Here is the rubric for the assignment • following directions (25%) • inclusion of self evaluation (25%) • understanding of lesson concepts (25%) • creativity; clear, effective use of visual communication; craftsmanship (25% Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you really let your self go and have fun with this one — the results can be really fun — and soothing. Enjoy

• Yo may use COLOR for this assignmen • Use simple line and stroke to complete this assignmen • The design should be non-objective -NO LOGOS, no recognizable imager • Balance the image with visual weigh • Emphasis can be created by using contrast, isolatio Feel free to be as creative as you wish; use other tools or options as you are comfortable within the limitations of the assignment. Upload your JPEG or PNG to the Assignment dropbox provided for Rhythm

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Assignment: RHYTHM