C O N S I D E R
(evidently an extension of direction or continuance--The way lines, shapes, forms, even colors seem to want to achieve wholeness). If possible the eye will reduce even the most battered shape to its simplest ordered structure. It will complete a semicircle by "seeing" it whole. It will "finish" a broken arch or doorway, "correct" a faulty square, and, in so doing, make these comprehensible (the principle of closure). [Gestalt Principles] [Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]
Closure. Closure refers to the tendency to complete a figure, so that it has a consistent overall form. Our tendency to form shapes--even with minimal cues--is powerful. [Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology, Exploration and Application. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1989. See chapter on Perceiving.]
R E F E R E N C E S
Closure n [ME, fr. MF, fr. L clausura, fr. Clausus, pp. of claudere to close -more at Close] [14c] 1 arachic: means of enclosing: Enclosure 2: an act of closing: the condition of being closed [__ of the eyelids] 3: something that closes [pocket with zipper __] 4 [trans. of F clôture]: Cloture 5: the property that a number system or a set has when it is mathematically closed under an operation 6: a set that contains a given set together with all the limit points of the given set
[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Springfield, MA, USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995.]
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