MOVEMENT

• Used by artists to direct viewers through their work, often to focal areas

• Movement can be directed along lines, edges, shapes, and colors within the works, but moves the eye most easily on paths of equal value

• Variations of movement are: Actual movement (KINETIC), Recorded action, Compositional movement

Kinetic: work that actually moves and changes over time; form changes from moment to moment

Alexander Calder

Theo Jansen Walking Sculpture(powered by wind)

Recorded Action-action that is recorded in still photography or movies

Eadweard Muybridge

Thomas Edgeron “Densmore Shute Bends the Shaft” 1938

This type of movement can also be implied in drawings

and paintings…

Fuzzy outlines: when figures move past us at very high speeds, we perceive that figure as somewhat blurry or indinstinct outlines as conveying motion

Giacoma Balla “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash”

Multiple Image: showing multiple overlapping images gives us the impression of motion. We can see that the person or figure has moved through a series of poses

Duchamp “Nude Descending a Staircase” 1912

Anticipated movement: live figures portrayed in unstable body positions cause us to feel that motion is imminent. We know that from past experience with these positions that some kind of movement will occur. This heightens the feeling of motion.

Optical Illusions: the repetition of geometric shapes or the varying thickness of lines will cause the eye to produce motion where none is present

“Movement in Squares” 1961Bridget Riley

Compositional Movement

• Is neither action nor a record of action

• Experienced by comparing the positions of stationary objects or spaces within a design

• Present in both 2D and 3D art

2-D Art: movement occurs through the manipulation of the objects, lines, textures, shapes, etc…within a design to lead your eye to a particular area

“Tribute Money”Masaccio 1424

“The Raft of Medusa”Gericault 1818-1819

“Still Life with Fruit Basket”Cezanne 1880

“The Terrace of Sainte Adresse”Monet 1867

“The Dance Class”Degas 1874

RHYTHM

• Visual rhythm, which is similar to pattern, may be produced by repeating one or more motifs in a recognizable or predictable order. An artist will use rhythm to help organize a composition, and also to create interest, emphasis, or unity.

• There are 5 types of rhythm-Regular, Alternating, Flowing, Progressive, Random

Regular: a repeated pattern that is both predictable and continuous; intervals between elements and often elements themselves are similar in size and length

“Real Materials Existing in Real Space”Donald Judd

Alternating: 2,3 or 4 patterns or images that repeat alternately. These patterns or images may vary slightly MC Escher

“Candied Apples”Wayne Thiebaud 1987

Flowing: movements of swells and curves that flow up, down, or side to side

Gustav Klimt

“Bush Medicine Dreaming”Gloria Petyarre 2008

Minoan Vase

Progressive: a motif that changes in a subtle or predictable way each time it is repeated

“Shotgun”John Biggers 1987

“Sky and Water”MC Escher

Random: an un-orderly fashion of a motif “Golconde”

Rene Magritte 1953

“Umbrellas”Jean Claude and Christo 1984-91

“Maybe Babies”Sandy Skoglund 1983

What rhythm do the artist’s use in the following images? Keep in mind, there may be more than one…

“Cookies on a Plate”Sandy Skoglund 1978

“Around the Cake”Wayne Thiebaud 1962

Sol LeWitt

Andy Warhol