Topic:
Space & Perspective
Goal Concept:
Designing is creating conceptual and visual unity by giving order to diverse but interrelated and interdependent parts.
Access Prior Knowledge:
“Through the volume of space, we move, see forms and objects, hear sounds, feel breezes, smell the fragrance of a flower garden in bloom” ~ Francis D.K. Ching
New Information:
Space
Space is either...
- ...an objective (or external) reality
- ...a subjective (or mental) construction
As an objective reality, space interacts with for to determine the shape of a visual image. As a subjective construction, it is an imaginary phenomenon that is manipulated by imagination and fantasy.
The Distance Between Things
The physicist is concerned with space that can be measured by math and geometry. The artist manipulates space and form in an objective way to establish physical arrangements within a spatial frame. Francis Ching describes space as a material substance like wood or stone yet inherently formless.
The Interval Between Points in Time
We mortals live within a linear time-space. Things and events are separated by points in time. “What we call length is a duration of experience measured in time.” ~Buckminster Fuller
The Receptacle of Things
Space can be defined as something which encapsulates forms. Although it is usually thought of as ‘empty,’ to the designer, poet or musician, space is real with boundaries and limits.
A Cognitive Phenomenon
The space between objects in a visual field is measured by binocular vision in which dual images are transmitted to the brain through electro-chemical impulses and then fused to establish spatial references.
A Subjective Phenomenon
Daydreams and fantasies are subjective visual constructions. In the mind’s eye, such visuals are exempt from the restrictions of chronological time and space. The mind can collapse space and time, reverse them or mix them with other time-frames. Subjective space is never fixed or static but flexible and able to present simultaneous fusions of past, present and speculative future events.
A Way to Organize Visual Elements
Artists can work with illusory space (the 2-dimensional space of drawing, painting or photography), or actual space (the 3-dimensional space of sculpture or architecture).
Artist Resources:
Apply Knowledge and Skills:
Create > Sighting a Room
Studio Activity:
Sighting (drawing by eye) is a process of comparing the relationships of angles, points, shapes and spaces. Notice how shapes and forms visually change as you change your position or perspective. You can use your pencil or fingers to 'calculate' the angles of the shapes edges relative to the horizontal and vertical.
Position yourself facing a corner of a room. The edges of your paper are horizontal and vertical guides. 1. Find a vertical corner (where two walls come together) and draw that straight vertical line on your paper. 2. Sight the upper corner (where the ceiling meets the wall) and notice the angle at which those lines leave your pencil. 3. Draw those lines leaving the vertical line at the same angles. 4. Do the same sighting and drawing at the bottom of your vertical line (where the walls meet the floor). 5. Work your way down the walls, check every angle (moldings, pictures, doorways, windows...) relative to vertical and horizontal. 6. Sight the relative widths and lengths of walls, cabinets, furniture or other objects in the room.
Trigger Mechanisms:
Observe, measure, document
Visual examples:
Materials:
Drawing paper, pencil, eraser, drawing board
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