Rearrange shapes cut out of paper, and try to find the point at which the figure disappears into the ground.
- Cut out a series of shapes from black paper – squares, rectangles, circles and random shapes – in a variety of sizes, from small to large.
- Working with a square piece of white paper, place shapes of different sizes into the white space; place them on the white one at a time and move them around.
- Try to find the point where the distinction between figure and ground becomes unclear. Does it depend on which shape dominates the space: black or white? Is it about the position of the shape within the space? Think about how important figure-ground relationships are within composition and design.
- Write down your findings, and remember to take pictures of your progress. Submit these pictures and your write-up on your WordPress blog.
A few years ago, I had this phase where I loved Aztec patterns on fabrics, so I have a lot of memories about different patterns so this was quit fun to do. I made triangles and squares and started to put them on the white paper. I did make two different, one with only triangles and one with triangles and squares.
On this one with just the triangles the white space forms squares and isosceles trapezoid.
On this the white space forms triangles, right trapezoid and the white square in the middle that is “hollowed”.
The photos are scanned to my laptop.