Gestalt image

Gestalt Figure or Ground

Man profile or ducks in the lake?

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are: similarity, continuation, closure and proximity. The eye differentiates an object form and its surrounding area.
A form or shape is naturally perceived as figure (object), while the surrounding area is perceived as ground (background).Using figure/ground relationships I created this picture that either you see a profile of a man or you see two ducks swimming in the water of a lake.

Grey scale composition

connection lines

The experience was very interesting not only because we had the chance to materialize a line in a 3 dimensional space but also approach the concept of composition and space in a very different point of view. In addition to work in class the teacher provided us with big balls of strings to create line composition linking different elements and after a while undo it.
As a conclusion it was fun and constructive.

line or shape

the line is the option B and D
the shapes are C and A
what make them a line is that they have a begining and an end even though the the direction or the size change. And what make them shapes is that the shapes are a union of lines.

Critique

The piece shows a large range of compositional elements. Such as active lines, free lines, free lines with companion lines, circular planes and planar elements. The color palette combines warm and cold colors in a high key value.Even though the composition is based in planar elements there is a sense of perspective that implies the idea of being inside and outside of a room.The elements with different directions, size, and importance balance the piece showing rhythm, movement and equilibrium.
I personally like it because it is dynamic, fluid and colorful in spite of the fact that at first it sense chaotic and out of control.