| |  | | LOOKING AT CONTEMPORARY ART FORMAL ANALYSIS
Some contemporary art has a special need to be analyzed in order to grasp its meaning. However, this is true in any field. One does not usually like what is easy or common in one's field of concentration. The exceptional is more interesting. For example, a professional chess player has little interest in an amateur game. When the uninitiated are d with art, they simply like what is familiar, and many times are impressed with what they believe is most difficult. Without an understanding of the process and elements of an art work, it is difficult to make an informed opinion. The following definitions and questions assist in understanding the works presented.
Point of View: The Artist sets up a vantage point, even in abstract ways. This affects response in subtle ways. This can create a sense of excitement, distance, tension, intimacy and so forth. Is the work meant to be views at an eye level? Above? Below? Is it so large that one must enter it? Can one see through it? What does that imply?
The principals of composition include balance, emphasis, movement, contrast, proportion, unity, variety, and repetition. The elements of design include line, color, shape, form (mass in structure), space, light and texture.
Composition is the particular combination or lack of shapes, forms, colors, lines, light and texture. What shapes are present? How are they arranged? Are there verticals or horizontals? Is it idealized or distorted? What does the size and shape of the work suggest?
Balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical works can make one feel calm; asymmetrical can indicate tension, or movement. Does it seem to be equal on bot sides? All sides? Is it equally balanced? Is it precariously balanced? Is it bursting out of its boundaries? Is some part of it emphasized?
Space can be evaluated in a picture plane or in a sculpture, using similar questions. Is it flat, so one concentrates on the sur? Some works have depth, others are transparent. Is there an illusion of depth? Are there overlapping lines or forms? Space can also be symbolic. Does the eye travel erotically? Slowly? Progressively? How is scale or relative size expressed in the work?
Geometry is used by artists in representational works as well as abstract works. Certain forms, such as circles, triangles or squares, are often the foundation of the artist design, and give the work structure. Irregular shapes can imply discard, excitement or tension. Regular geometric shapes can imply order or stability. However, color and arrangement may make quiet shapes come alive, or lend clam to irregular shapes. Texture, size and repetition can affect how the work is viewed. What shapes are dormant? Are they biomorphic, overlapping or repeated?
Lines can create patterns. Are they rhythmic? Do they suggest movement? Are they thick, thin, ragged, smooth, broken or controlled? What does this suggest?
Color can help achieve balance, create an illusion of depth, emphasize or animate parts of the composition. Colors also have symbolic meanings in certain cultures. Primary colors (red, blue and yellow) are viewed as strong, vibrant, hot or cold. Tones (or shades of color, lighter or darker) may be called warm, cool, muted or subtle. Colors react to other colors and to light. Blocks of color, or strokes and layers of color produce different kinds of responses.
Is color important in this work? What kinds of colors are used? Where? Are there dominant colors? Are they repeated? Do they lead the eye in any particular direction? Would the artwork be different if the colors were different? Are there any associations or symbolic uses of color?
Light emphasizes and helps create space, or animates part of a composition. It may also have symbolic value. Are cast shadows created by lighting a piece of sculpture? Are they dark? Opaque?
Technique is the way an artist handles materials, how the work is finished: smooth, textured, varnished, etc. Smooth, highly finished works make the hand of the artist disappear. Rough, or seemingly careless, finish reminds us that we are looking at art made by some human hand.
Interpretation is the attempt to consciously speculate upon the meaning of a work. It can be based upon the physical evidence, analysis and knowledge of art history and historical context, and what informs the mindset of an era.
What does the work mean? What is implied by all of the various elements and how they are put together? Was the initial intuitive response valid or has formal analysis altered the feelings? Is there something undefinable about the work?
Evaluation: The formal analysis is only one type of analysis and does not tell you all you may need to know about a work of art. There is biographical material about the artist, the larger context of his or her place in the art world, or place as part of a movement. The social and cultural history of the place and time in which the art was made is vital. There are questions of aesthetics or the nature of art and beauty. What is art, what is truth, etc. The issue of the relevance of taste or originality is disputed today.
Judgment about a work of art should be based upon an informed opinion. Judgment may have very little to do with personal preference. It is a carefully considered conclusion as to the success of a work of art, based on one's perception of what the artist intended and whether or not he or she succeeded. As a viewer, you complete the circle of creation. An artist creates, the work is a finished piece, and art is communication. | |