Repetition

Repetition. "In general, throughout Nature, reflection and repetition are peaceful things, associated with the idea of quiet succession in events; that one day should be like another day, or one history the repetition of another history, being more or less results of quietness, while dissimilarity and non-succession are results of interference and disquietude. Thus, though an echo actually increases the quantity of sound heard, its repetition of the note or syllable gives an idea of calmness attainable in no other way; hence also the feeling of calm given to a landscape by the voice of a cuckoo." [Ruskin, John. Elements of Drawing. New York: Dover Publications, 1971.]

[Repetition] It is one of the basic principles of design that can be demonstrated through points repeated in a variety of ways across broad surfaces. Points designate positions and create spatial relationships in some pattern-making. Designers of printed fabric, wallpaper, wrapping paper, tile, or mosaic figurations that must run on virtually without end have to decide on some scheme of repetition. The polka-dot field is the simplest way of organizing allover pattern repeat. The design motif replaces the dot in the chosen field. It may be inverted, it may alternate with another motif, and so on, but its position is determined by the basic field pattern. This method works well enough until one attempts the use of intricate linear motifs or interlocking geometric motifs. Then problems of continuity or periodic occurrence demand other solutions. Other "plane-filling systems" must be sought. [Collier, Graham. Form, Space & Vision, An Introduction to Drawing and Design. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1985.]

Repetition underlies all design, no matter how simple or complex. We recognize three types immediately: (1) sequence, (2) rhythm, and (3) balance. [pg. 23] [Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]

C O N S I D E R:

Sequence - Regular Repetition

Rhythm - Accented Repetition

Balance - Stabilized Repetition

It is one of the basic principles of design that can be demonstrated through points repeated in a variety of ways across broad surfaces. Points designate positions and create spatial relationships in some pattern-making. Designers of printed fabric, wallpaper, wrapping paper, tile, or mosaic figurations that must run on virtually without end have to decide on some scheme of repetition. The polka-dot field is the simplest way of organizing allover pattern repeat. The design motif replaces the dot in the chosen field. It may be inverted, it may alternate with another motif, and so on, but its position is determined by the basic field pattern. This method works well enough until one attempts the use of intricate linear motifs or interlocking geometric motifs. Then problems of continuity or periodic occurrence demand other solutions. Other "plane-filling systems" must be sought. 'Geometric Patterns and Borders' [David Wade, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982, the Introduction], says that "two elements are required: a repeat motif conjoined with a structured or rhythmic base." Other types of "ordered array," says Wade, include that of the Rorschach inkblot, solid (3-D) symmetry, and two-dimensional examples--planar (infinite patterns), linear (frieze or border), and centered (finite). [pg. 27] [Harlan, Calvin. Vision & Invention, An Introduction to Art Fundamentals. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.]

C O N S I D E R:

Sympathy

Inversion

Alternate

Linear

Interlocking

Geometric

Continuity

Rhythm

Planar

Linear

Centered

Finite/Infinite

Ruskin - The Law of Repetition
"Another important means of expressing unity is to mark some kind of sympathy among the different objects, and perhaps the pleasantest, because most surprising, kind of sympathy, is when one group imitates or repeats another; not in the way of balance or symmetry, but subordinately, like a far-away and broken echo of it . . . . and I think it is even more authoritatively present in the minds of most great composers than the law of principality . . . . to echo an important passage of colour...[or other element] in precisely the same relative positions . . . . chiefly in pictures where he [Turner] wishes to obtain an expression of repose . . . . this reduplication . . . . and its echo beyond it. That echo is divided into two again, and each of those two smaller . . . . has almost its facsimile . . . . done to deepen the effect . . . . "Symmetry", or the balance of parts or masses in nearly equal opposition, is one of the conditions of treatment under the law of Repetition. For the opposition, in a symmetrical object, is of like things reflecting each other: it is not the balance of contrary natures [like that of day and night], but of like natures or like forms; one side of a leaf being set like the reflection of the other in water.

Symmetry in Nature is, however, never formal nor accurate. She takes the greatest care to secure some difference between the corresponding things or parts of things; and an approximation to accurate symmetry is only permitted in animals, because their motions secure perpetual difference between the balancing parts. Stand before a mirror; hold your arms in precisely the same position at each side, your head upright, your body straight; divide your hair exactly in the middle and get it as nearly as you can into exactly the same shape over each ear; and you will see the effect of accurate symmetry: you will see, no less, how all grace and power in the human form result from the interference of motion and life with symmetry, and from the reconciliation of its balance with its changefulness.

In many sacred composition, living symmetry, the balance of harmonious opposites, is one of the profoundest sources of their power . . . . In landscape, the principle of balance is more or less carried out, in proportion to the wish of the painter to express disciplined calmness. In bad compositions, as in bad architecture, it is formal . . . . but in good compositions . . . . it is always easy and sometimes hardly traceable . . . . "