for midterm (100 points) Flashcards
what is visual literacy?
- mainly started being used in the 1960s to examine perception, Gestalt based.
- more formal than content readings (formal: what it looks like. Content: what it means)
- reflected late modernist ‘scientific’ design ideas, used to mean having some facility with visual culture
what is visual culture?
- visual cultural artifacts
- considers artifacts as complex embodiments of societally contracted concepts and norms, culturally determined.
- de-emphazies hierarchical status for art.
- most introductions privilege content over formal aspects
Gestalt principles
German for ‘form’ in this context it means ‘unified whole’ or ‘configuration’ the main point is in the perception the whole is different then the sum of its parts.
law of Prägnanz
‘pithiness’ or ‘concise and meaningful’ we are driven to perceive things in symmetrical, simple, and regular form
law of proximity
the closer together objects/subjects the more they are perceived as one
law of similarity
elements that look similar will be perceived as part of the same form
law of good continuation
tend to continue contours whenever the elements of the pattern establish an implied direction.
law of closure
tend to close a space by completing a contour and ignoring gaps in the figure.
law of figure/ground
a stimulus will be received as separate from its ground
the field
visual field
center
visual weight, every shape or group different
the edge
decision of where to crop
top and bottom
sense of gravity. work with/against potential energy
left and right
reading habit, play with sequence
grouping
graspable visual patterns, formal or conceptual
the picture plane
literal/illusion, historically various empthysisn
mark making
specific evocative quality, set tone
texture
actual or visual helps give weight to the piece
pattern and ornament
repetition, can give texture add or shade meaning, underlying grid system.
grids
proportional system to organize forms on a surface
figure and ground
simplest visual duality, create space
gradients
any gradual, orderly stepped change in visual quality, creates space
overlapping
simple depth cue, can imply importance
size change
depth cue
vertical location
typical realism expectations is that foreground is bottom
pictorial box
stresses stage-like-space
frontal recession
overlapping areas parallel to picture plane (orderly)
diagonal recession
overlapping at an angle to picture plane, dynamic
space moving out
illusions of things coming out of picture, baroque innovation
enclosed space
containment, cue-dependent, intimate or oppressive
open space
space seems to continue beyond picture confines
packed space
compressed energy, expressive
empty space
eloquent by omission, less is more
vanishing-point- perspective
system with limitations, effectively places viewer, can distort not how we see, tends to weight bottom
isometric
linear, without a vanishing point, parallel lines in nature that stay that way. squish effect, interaction of 2D surface and space
surface and space
various strategies to reinforce interaction of 2D surface and spatial illusion
size
actual mass
scale
feeling of space projected
structure and scale
smaller structures within the whole, substructures
scale
feeling of space projected
golden section
greeks
tatami mats
traditional Japanese system
monumental scale
larger, simpler forms, downplaying detail, independent of actual size
intimate scale
implied informality, fluidity and impermanence, private
shape
visible record of forces on flat surface, inside, outside tension. actual/implied. GESTALT
simple and complex shape
easily or not easily grasped by the eye
geometric and organic shape
baggage. Nature/ culture contrived/evolved
positive and negative shape
always important relationship. figure and ground. interesting when more equally weighted.
weight
symmetrical, geometric, squarer, higher-placed shapes = heavier value and texture also play role
tension and shape
imagine basic shapes pulled, distorted gives energy and direction
line
simplest graphic unit, abstraction
handwriting
pressure-sensitive, gestural, intimate
impersonal line
unvarying, mechanical, intellect signifier
material and line qualities
line affected by material used
implied line
direction established by gestalt (good continuation)
line as edge
sense of linear edge of shape, feathered transitions
line and three dimensional form
line can strengthen 3-D form, actual or illusion, hatching and cross hatching
directed tension
gives motion, often diagonal
movement and change
essentially gradient, orderly progression
vertical/horizontal and diagonal
vertical and horizontal is still
diagonal is motion
they play off each other
stroboscopic motion
overlapping gradient
time
visual devices to imply the passage, comic strip, multiple images (left to right)
value and light
2 D illusion of light
value as light and comparing values
context and comparison to make judgments
weight of value
darker is heavier, clustering marks gives darker value
value contrast
controlling range of values gives degrees of luminosity
space and volume
tonal gradient gives sense of volume
transparency and reflection
values can create illusions of transparency or projected light
film decreases light-> subtractive
lightens -> additive
color
what is visible or frequencies of light
light is color
things have color
HUE
location on the spectrum, humans can tell 150 distinct pigments, primary and secondary
value
hue has its own value add white/black some colors will stay the relative same others will change.
intensity
lightness or dullness, add black, white, grey or complement to make it neutral
temperature
warm or cool
complementary colors
opposite, mixing will create something neutral
color systems
how to classify colors
mixing light
light primaries. red, blue/violet and green
mixing pigment
more colors is less light and subtractive
monochromatic
same hue at different values
analogous
hues close to or touching on the color wheel, different values and intensities
triadic harmonies
three color groups evenly spaces on color wheel.
split complementary harmonies
color with 2 colors adjacent to its complement, harmony is subjective
color keys
music analogy
high/low
interaction
always in contact, simultaneous contrast, color of a field will call forth its opposite quality in a color places in it.
weight and balance
darker is heavier
making light
a kind of consistency that unifies all the different color areas
making space
cool colors tend to recede, warm advance, find various levels
local color
when local color is strong, light appears to be colorless.
atmospheric perspective
objects increasing take on the color of the light the farther away they are
description and subjective color
even realism is a type of abstraction (transition)
color symbolism
over history, various system cultural ideas
levels of order
hierarchies->dominant/secondary forms
order/ randomness
harmony and dissonance
both deal with views expectations
balance
lively configuration of visual forces to create something greater than a simple sum of parts
tension
some degree of distortion deformation resistance
radial
balance from center point
bilateral
right or left
top and bottom balance
asymmetry
about difference and tensely revolved contrast
clarity ambiguity
eye has built-in preferences for clarity,(Prägnanz) purposeful ambiguity is thought-provoking
hierarchy ambiguity
allows seeing the whole organizational structure, the subdivisions into which smaller parts fit
families of forms
connections or sublet variations between shapes, colors and textures
repetition and variation
contact-dependent, can emphasize mechanical, hue quantities, tedium
rhythm
structuring visual motion, music analogy
curve
lyrical, movement, organic
arabesque
complicated interweaving linear composition, grid alternative
straightness
visual symbol of non-interaction, beyond merely straight
‘culture’
has a historically been juxtaposed against ‘nature’
culture
is partly a framing device
urban culture
what humans have done or added to nature by their inventiveness and labor
complex relationship
although much of the earth is controlled and developed nature is still a determinant humans are part of nature
Anthropocene
our current era during which human activities have had a HUGE impact in nature and how the earth lives
culture concepts
base, superstructure and ideology
base and superstructure
marxist architectural metaphor
BASE- material, means of production
SUPERSTRUCTURE- ‘spiritual’ phenomenon, ideology, art, religion, science and philosophy.
ideology
a shared set of societal values and beliefs
Karl MARX
ideology is false consciousness
Louis Althusser
we’re unconsciously constituted as subjects by ideology
hegemony
the rich in gramscis view, culture using ideology rather than violence, force, or coercion to attempt to maintain the status quo.
hegemony pt.2
dominant ideologies are always in flux -antino
culture and civilization
a culture synonym with broader and evaluative connotations
civilization
mannered (refined)
paradox
civilization usually increases the potential for destructive power
culture and class
high culture- upper middle class, royalty, aridtoctacy
middle brow- bourgeoisie or middle and lower middle class
low culture- proletariat/working class and underclass
kitsch
visual artifacts judged to have little or no aesthetic value
camp
recodes kitsch as valuable, sees value through its state in involving class standards as ‘bad taste’ - connoisseur of kitsch
traditionally
culture belonged to the elite, it took money to have culture
connoisseur
master of taste, masters the rules of a subculture
cultural capital
like money, everyone has some access to culture
