Balance & Imbalance Symmetry and Asymmetry
Jan 17, 2016
Balance & ImbalanceSymmetry and Asymmetry
Visual Weight in Design ElementsThe major difference in design balance and physical balance is that your visual elements don’t have a physical weight. They do however, have visual weight.
Some things that affect visual weight:
Size – As you would expect larger elements carry more weight
Color – It’s not fully understood why, but some colors are perceived as weighing more
than others. Red seems to be heaviest while yellow seems to be lightest.
Density – Packing more elements into a given space, gives more weight to that space
Value – A darker object will have more weight than a lighter object
Whitespace – Positive space weighs more than negative space or whitespace
Symmetry Symmetry
Symmetry Symmetry
Symmetrical Balance
Parthenon in Athens, Greece
Buddha Amoghasiddhi with Eight Bodhisattvas ca. 1200–1250Tibet (Central regions)Distemper on cloth27 1/8 x 21 1/4 in.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, Tempera on gesso, pitch & mastic, 1495 – 98, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
Face Mask (Kpeliye'e)19th–mid-20th centuryCôte d'IvoireSenufo Wood, horns, raffia fiber, cotton cloth, feather, metal, sacrificial materialH. 30 1/4 in.
Throughout the twentieth century, members of poro, a Senufo initiation association, wore small, finely carved face masks as insignia. Considered feminine, the masks honor deceased Senufo elders with their grace and beauty.
Rattle19th centuryQueen Charlotte IslandsBritish ColumbiaSkittagetan or Haida Wood, pigment Overall: 3 x 8 in. This rattle depicts a grinning mountain spirit, potentially that of a bear. The spirit would act as the intercessor for the human figure found between the ears. The rattle represents the relationship between the two and how the owner would depend on the spirit for strength and guidance.
Contemporary totem Pole at Namgis Burial Ground in British Columbia, Canada
Taj Mahal, masoleum, Agra, India, 1632 - 53
Little Faith by Jimmy Joe Roche, painted paper sculpture, 106 x 2 x 78” 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ-XJObVaBU
Prototype For New Understanding by Brian Jungen, Nike Shoe Sculpture, ranging in size from 2 x 2 to igloo-size, 2010
Brian Jungen
Brian Jungen
Artwork from Brian Jungen’s show at National Museum of the American Indian in DC, 2009RIGHT: Blanket no.7 Professional Sports Jerseys, 69 x 53.5” 2008LEFT: Collection of Prototype For New Understanding
Balance: Radial Symmetry
17th Century Reticella Lace Crochet Design
Namgyal monks completing a sand mandala, Cleveland, Ohio, museum.
Example of completed Sand Mandala
Radial Symmetry
Mandala of Jnanadakini late 14th centuryTibet (a Sakya monastery)Distemper on cloth33 1/4 x 28 7/8 in.
Detail of the mandala
This mandala is in the form of an extraordinary palace seen from above. It is presided over by a female Buddha, Jnanadakini, who is the feminine aspect of Jnanadaka, a fierce manifestation of the Buddha Vajrasattva. Jnanadakini has six arms and three heads and sits on a lion throne surrounded by the eight goddesses of her inner circle. Four female guardians are seated in the doorways of the palace's gates.
Basic Structure of the Mandala
Circle Limit IV, woodcut in black and ocre, 2 block prints 1960 by M. C. Escher
Asymmetrical Balance
ecnalaB lacirtemmysA
Metamorphosis III by M. C. Escher woodcut, second state in red, green & reddish-brown, 1967-68
Wassily Kandinsky, Composition VIII, 1923, Oil on canvas, 55 1/8 x 79 1/8 inches
Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, Saint Rémy, June 1889. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/4"
The woman crawling through the tawny grass was the artist's neighbor in Maine, who, crippled by polio, "was limited physically but by no means spiritually."
Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World, 1948, Tempera on gessoed panel, 32 1/4 x 47 3/4"
Wassily Kandinsky, Composition VII, 1913, Oil on canvas, (6' 6 3/4" x 9' 11 1/8”)
Mark di Suvero, Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore), 1967Painted steel, 480 x 480 x 360 in
George BellowsBetween Rounds, 1923Lithograph18 1/4 x 14 3/4 inches
Scott HuntDonut1999
Imbalance?
Spiderman Series by Michael Burmeister, oil on canvas, 2008
(a)Symmetrical Digital Collage Project
Digital collages by Florian Kuhlmann
http://wim101.blogspot.com/2011/07/digital-collages-by-florian-kuhlmann.html
Bernhard Hildebrandt
http://www.salavon.com/work/Mandala/image/188/Modern Lifestyle Mandala (Lingerie #1) 2002Digital C-prints.28.25" x 47.75". 5 + 2 APs.Common goods arranged in complex radial formations. Inspired by the Buddhist mandala and shopping.
http://www.salavon.com/work/color-wheel/image/409/
Fred Tomaselli, Dead Eyed Bird Blast, 1997. Hemp leaves, pills, photo collage, acrylic, and resin on wood panel. 60" x 60”
Metal Destroyer, 2004. Mixed media, resin on wood. 72" x 72"
FRED TOMASELLI, Hang Over, 2005, Leaves, pills, acrylic, resin on wood panel, 84 X 120 inches
Fred Tomaselli
Fred Tomaselli, Detail
Fred Tomaselli
Pamela Sunstrum
Pamela Sunstrum