DYNAMICS - Dual forces in Art and Nature [The following text is from: Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985. pgs. 166-179]
The plasticity of a work of art. The plasticity factor is the formative factor: It is the way in which the parts, or aspects, of the created image are brought together to impart a particular dynamic quality to the form, the "plastic life" of the work, as it is sometimes called. Here are some of the results of such composing, ranging from the sort of vitality that produces equilibrium to that resulting in turbulence--some of the essential principles which govern the plasticity of a work of art.
Composing - organizing a variety of elements into a coherent whole, into an entity possessing an overall form.
Equilibrium is the stable situation achieved when forces are in balance, when energy is contained and some degree of permanence is implied. Such a situation possesses vitality when the balance achieved is delicate and tense; it moves to a condition of inertia when balance is so solidly locked in that the potentiality for motion is lost and tension between forces accordingly disappears. Note: Although equilibrium represents stability, stability itself does not necessarily imply a dynamically dead or inert situation, but rather one in which an "energetic calm" prevails. When forces are contained and a balance achieved, a certain kind of tension is present--the tension of balance, one might call it--for there is always the realization that it could take very little extra force to produce imbalance and with it an aesthetic and physical breakdown. It is not a contradiction in terms, therefore, to talk about equilibric vitality. At times, such a tension of balance is even more forceful--the contained forces being so potentially powerful--than the more obvious and outright dispersal of energy described as turbulent.
Turbulence is the unstable situation resulting when forces are not in balance and energy is on the move, producing change or the strong likelihood of change. Turbulence may be weak or strong: a condition just energetic enough to be non-equilibric, or so total that chaos reigns.
Two Basic Pressure Characteristics indicated in the energy potential possessed by space or ground when it is shaped a certain way are those of:
Equilibrium/Turbulence and Stability/Motion
Energy and the Art of Composing. The art of composing, simply defined, is that of organizing a variety of elements into a coherent whole, into an entity possessing an overall form. What are the dynamic possibilities inherent in such composing--the stable or restless nature of the forces which the figure-ground situation suggests are present?
There are many figure-ground variables that determine compositional vitality. Here we focus on the two dominant manifestations of energy or "life" occurring in both nature and art--equilibrium and turbulence--and, when possible, we rely on visual examples to speak for themselves.
To determine compositional force [in art or nature]--the degree of active or potential movement which is apparently present--the nature of the clues in a particular scene must be analyzed: How do compositional factors imply the operation of certain kinds of force or energy and thus endow the situation with a particular measure of vitality?
Five principle ways of achieving vitality through area stain, contributing significantly to the "life" of a work [See separate document: Factors in Composition]:
1. Space energy as determined by shape: open or closed; two or three dimensional
2. The enlivening of space by drawing marks.
3. The energy of line in drawing.
4. The energy and structure of planes and curved surfaces.
5. The energy potential of area stain.
Basic compositional principles pertaining to dynamics can be placed under three main headings: Placement , Shape of Objects, and Shape of Space.
Compositional forces apply universally throughout the visual arts, in the two-dimensional fields of drawing and painting as well as in the three-dimensional areas of sculpture and architecture . . . . Nature is perpetually active: Tree roots pull down, branches push up, trunks lean and ultimately fall; rocks roll down angled slopes and stop when they meet an obstruction; winds blow, cause things to bend and to move about; buds open and leaves spread in the air; oceans advance and retreat, shaping sand and rock in the process; rivers flow and shape their courses; glaciers erode while geological forces push up and gravity pulls down; and sun, wind, rain, and frost wear away at everything. In time all things change, nothing remains the same. Yet although motion and change can be violent and occur as one watches, it may also take place so gradually that one is not aware of it . . . .
[Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985. Inquiry into compositional forces, pgs. 179-194]
PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION Affecting Equilibrium and Turbulence
[From: Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.]
Placement of Objects and Spaces
Distance Factor
When objects and separate regions of space almost touch each other, the physical encounter suggests the operation of some degree of force or energy, thus creating dynamic tensions of motion rather than stability. Mere closeness, however, diminishes these tensions in favor of stability. Remoteness decreases the tensions of motion still futher, helping to create a more inert equilibrium.
Angles of Juxtaposition
When objects and separate regions of space confront each other at steep angles (45 degrees to 90 degrees), motion and turbulence are implied. Forces of gravity and weight are suggested or, conversely, an energy which defies gravity by moving things vertically or diagonally away from the horizontal. Vertical and diagonal angles of juxtaposition therefore suggest dynamic tensions of movement and speed. Confrontation at 180 degrees angles--horizontal juxtaposition--intimates gravitational stability; even though there may be implied movement left and right, equillibrium seems less threatened. Vertical and horizontal angles coming together make for a balance of forces.
Critical Shape of Objects - Mass or Skeletal
Relationship between Shape of Object and Pressure-Force Exerted
When the shape of an object seems to push against its context, mass shapes seem to exert a surface swell in all directions; whereas skeletal shapes are seemingly point-loaded and energy travels in a concentrated, linear fashion. Such pressure dynamics can contribute substantially to the equillbric or turbulent nature of a visual situation. Generally speaking, surface-swell presssure is relatively even and well dispersed, less a threat to stability until expansion reaches bursting point. Point-loading pressure, on the other hand, suggests a powerful concentration of energy at work, moving in a particular direction. Here, thrust must be met by equal thrust if equillibrium is to be achieved.
Critical Shape of Space
Spatial Shape and Energy
When spatial regions are totally enclosed they appear compressed, and thus dynamic in the sense that although energy is constrained it could well burst out. Partially open regions, however, suggest not potential but actual movement, as space flows freely in and out. In contrast, wide-open spaces seem to be dynamically neutral in terms of pressure forces at work. Space which becomes angled and narrowed assumes the energy capabilitiy of the point-thrust--a threat to stability. Mass, or rounded regions, in contrast, appear to exert more generally dispersed and even surface-swell pressure--altogether more benign, less turbulent.
C O N S I D E R
Dynamics. The active or static nature of an image which may be experienced in two ways:
a). By its physical form in terms of figure-ground organization: whether it is still or in motion.
b). By the psychological quality of its content: whether it is stirring and forceful, or calm and serene.
[Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.]
C O N S I D E R:
How compositional factors (interrelationships) imply the operation of certain kinds of force or energy and thus endow the situation with a particular measure of vitality . . . . Form in terms of two structural dynamics: Volume and movement/linear point thrust . . . . Composition in terms of Equilibrium/Turbulence and Stability/Motion = two dominant manifestations of energy or "life." And, Tautness/vigorous situation, such as plasticity tested to limits or the exhibition of intensity or of a sense of stress. [Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.]
R E F E R E N C E S
Dynamic [< F dynamique < GK dynamik (os)...] 1. Physics. The branch of mechanics that deals with the motion and equilibrium of systems under the action of forces, usually from outside the system. 2. The motivating or driving forces, physical or moral, in any field. 3. The pattern of History or growth, change, and development in any field. 4. Variation and gradation in the volume of musical sound.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House,1968.]
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