1 the Poetics of Visual Art: Elements of Art, Principles of Design, Strategies of Composition

Features and techniques for conveying meaning & shaping composition in the visual arts

1. Poetics of Visual Art: Elements of Art, Principles of Design, Strategies of Composition

Includes: Elements of Art, Principles of Design, Strategies of Composition--and refers to the essential components, guiding principles, and strategic approaches artists, designers, art critics, and art historians use to create, organize, and analyze visual artworks and designs. This framework provides analytical tools that help creators and viewers understand how visual elements interact to form a cohesive composition. However, it is essential to recognize that these concepts are rooted in specific cultural traditions and art historical discourses and cannot fully encompass all cultures' diverse practices and perspectives. For our purposes, the list includes the following terms:

Elements of Art: point/line, shape/plane, space, form, texture, color, time,

Principles of Design: volume, mass, economy, transparency, unity, variety, rhythm, symmetry/asymmetry, movement, proportion, scale, balance, emphasis, contrast, repetition, connection, juxtaposition, hierarchy,

Non-hegemonic principles of design: funk, cool, Rasquachismo, wabi-sabi, the Rasas

Gestalt Principles: figure-ground, closure, continuation, proximity, similarity

Elements of Art: point/line

Possible Qualities & Techniques: line-weight, directionality, order v., confidence, gestural, calligraphic, arris, contour, cross-contour, hatching, stippling, implied, rectilinear, curvilinear

Elements of Art: shape/plane

Possible Qualities & Techniques: actual/implied, amorphous, biomorphic, geometric, Cubism, decorative (flat), perspective, plane, plastic shape (illusion of 3D)

Elements of Art: space

Possible Qualities & Techniques: equivocal space (illusion), installation, atmospheric perspective, scientific perspective, hierarchical scale, registration

Elements of Art: form

Possible Qualities & Techniques:  accent, allover pattern, approximate symmetry, tectonic-atectonic/architectonic (massive, closed forms), interpenetration (esp. of planes), motif, moments of force, gesture

Elements of Art: texture

Possible Qualities & Techniques: abstract texture, actual texture, invented texture, simulated texture, assemblage, collage, paint (medium) quality, surface, tactile, trompe l'oeil

Elements of Art: color

Possible Qualities & Techniques:  chromatic/achromatic, additive/subtractive color, RGB/CMYK, analogous, triadic, complementary, split-complement, tetradic, chromatic value, high-key color, saturation/chroma (purity-color v. grey), hue (color), intensity (purity + brightness)

Elements of Art: time

Temporal Qualities: actual motion (kinetic), animation, cell, shot types (e.g. close-up), crosscutting, ellipsis, motion blur, flashback/flash-forward, implied motion,

Elements of Art: value

Possible Qualities & Techniques:  chromatic/achromatic, core shadow, cast shadow: umbra, penumbra, antepenumbra, midtone, highlight, chiaroscuro (light v. dark), tenebrism (dramatic), sfumato (smoky), low-key/high-key, closed-value composition (value bound by shapes), open-value composition (values extend beyond shapes), plastic value (3D), decorative value (flat), local value (observed), imaginary value, silhouette, contra jour,

Principles of Design

Possible Qualities & Techniques: volume, mass, economy, transparency, unity, variety, rhythm, symmetry/asymmetry, movement, proportion, scale, balance, emphasis, contrast, repetition, connection, juxtaposition, hierarchy

Principles of Design (non-hegemonic): Funk (African-American (Black) Culture)

An African American aesthetic philosophy & form of Black organic intellectualism that combines social commentary with physical and spiritual liberation. It evolved from the blues and Black urban life in the mid-1960s, using the "groove" to create a complex, rhythmic form of expression.

Key elements: privileging the ‘groove’ and figuration (the body/figure-ground); contratrianism/resistance; celebration of Black identity; social and political commentary; Afrofuturism and world-building

Principles of Design (non-hegemonic): Wabi-Sabi (Japan)

Japanese aesthetic concept that finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. It celebrates the natural cycle of growth and decay and embraces simplicity and rustic authenticity over artificial perfection. The term suggests appreciating the patina on an old object, the unevenness of natural materials, or the serenity that comes with age and wear. 

• Wabi: Often associated with rustic simplicity, quietness, and authenticity. 

• Sabi: Refers to the beauty and serenity that comes with age, wear, and visible repairs

Principles of Design (non-hegemonic): Cool (West Africa)

The conscious, artistic "interweaving of elements serious and pleasurable, of responsibility and play". This aesthetic, which he saw as a core principle of Afro-Atlantic culture, involves a state of balance and control that allows for both a transcendent calm and brilliant creativity. An aesthetic means of achieving balance and a connection to the ancestral past through composure and artistic expression, even in the face of difficulty.  

Key elements:

• Balance and control;

• Connection to the ancestral:

  The concept has ancient roots in West Africa, particularly in Yoruba culture, and was carried to the Americas by enslaved people who wove it into a new creole civilization. 

• Manifested in art and life:

  Can be identified in various forms, including clothing, gesture, sports, music, dance, and visual arts like quilts and paintings. 

• A state of transcendence:

  Ultimately, it can be seen as a means for achieving a state of calm and serenity, a "mask of mind itself" that allows for transcendence when facing adversity. 

Principles of Design (non-hegemonic): Rasas (India)

A central concept in Indian aesthetic theory. The term has a variety of meanings (among them “flavor,” “taste,” “juice,” and “essence”), but in aesthetics it is understood to refer to a distinctive type of emotional experience that can be experienced in connection with an artwork. The concept is presented in the Nāṭyaśāstra (200-500 C.E.), traditionally attributed to Bharata, a work that amounts to a compendium of knowledge on dramatic performance (including music and dancing).

That Nāṭyaśāstra itemizes eight rasas that can be aroused in audience members through skillful performances.

These include:

the erotic (śṛṅgāra)

the comic (hāsya)

the pathetic or sorrowful (karuṇa)

the furious (raudra), the heroic (vīra)

the terrible (bhayānaka)

the odious (bībhatsa)

the marvelous (adbhuta).

the tranquil (śānta).

Principles of Design (non-hegemonic): Rasquachismo (Mexican-American (Chicano) Culture)

A term coined by Tomás Ybarra-Frausto in 1989 to describe the resourceful, improvisational, and adaptable Chicano sensibility of the working class. Rooted in the Spanish word "rasquache," which historically carried negative connotations of being low-class or poor, rasquachismo reclaims this term to define an attitude of survival and creativity, using readily available, discarded, or “low-brow” materials to create something new. It represents a defiant defiance of established norms and a reclamation of class and beauty. 

Key Aspects of Rasquachismo

• Resourcefulness and Adaptability: It involves using what is available

• Challenging Aesthetics:

  Rasquachismo elevates materials and ideas that are often considered "bad taste" or "banal," offering an alternative aesthetic that is bold, elaborate, and rich. 

• Survival and Dignity:

  At its core, rasquachismo is a strategy for survival in the face of material struggle, allowing marginalized communities to create a life with dignity and build a collective identity. 

• Artistic and Cultural Manifestation:

  This sensibility is seen in various forms of Chicano art and culture, including visual arts, poetry, and even cuisine, where simple ingredients are transformed into something delectable. 

• From Underdog to Creator:

  It is an "underdog perspective" that moves beyond mere survival to a creative form of self-expression and customization, as seen in lowrider cars and other artistic creations, according to the