The Power of the Center a Study of Composition in the Visual Arts First

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Beginning your review of The Ability of the Center: A Study of Composition in the Visual Arts

Jul 19, 2014 Tony rated information technology liked it

The globe is being blinded by the tidal wave of photographs pushed through social media. So much noise, so little of lasting value.

And if like me, you aspire to artistic photography .."not through argument but through feeling", working to "shut the gap betwixt you and everything that is not yous" [to quote "Shock of the New" by Robert Hughes], then perhaps going back to some "nuts" is only the tonic the gin ordered.

Enter: "The Power of the Centre" ("POC") by Rudolf Arnheim, a study of composi

The earth is beingness blinded past the tidal wave of photographs pushed through social media. So much noise, so petty of lasting value.

And if like me, you aspire to creative photography .."not through statement just through feeling", working to "close the gap betwixt y'all and everything that is not you" [to quote "Shock of the New" past Robert Hughes], and then perchance going back to some "basics" is just the tonic the gin ordered.

Enter: "The Power of the Centre" ("POC") by Rudolf Arnheim, a study of composition in the visual arts. Arnheim can't write, but we tin can forgive him that given that his project was to explore the cerebral basis of fine art, and past extension, the globe. His classic work, "Art and Visual Perception" was footing-breaking, simply hard work. The POC is far easier to read even given its dry academic style.

Effort is rewarded though.

The statement builds. From an introduction into spatial systems and forcefulness fields, a comprehensive analysis of many examples of art follows taking each element that creates visual perception: centres, hubs and weight, frames, volumes and nodes, latches and vectors. The book springs to life as it examines the perceptual forces that make some pictures "work". My favourite examples include Manet's Le Rendez-Vous de Chats (1870) for its Latch, Picasso'due south Family of Saltimbanques (1905) for its Hubs, and Munch's Ill Girl (1896) for the effect of its square Frame.

But useful as I plant the book, I also felt slightly becalmed. We are given glimpses of a more fundamental underlying psychological imperative at work, as in the chapter on "The Viewer equally Heart" and "Seeing the World Sideways" - "... the difficulty is that nosotros await at our world sideways. Instead of facing information technology equally a detached viewer, we are in it and of it. ... our view interprets and misinterprets our position". Simply we are left without a wind in our sails. What psychological universals are at piece of work in our visual apprehension of the world? How do these reveal the workings of our minds?

A tad unfair of me? Perhaps! But if cipher else, this book woke me up to some basic insights into what makes a picture grab a viewer. In these times of 40 plus billion photographs beingness published annually, I need every little assist I can get!

...more than

Excerpt from Chapter 2, on the varieties of visual weight:

"Distance increases visual weight. This statement contradicts what we know from physics. The gravitational police force of the inverse square states that physical attraction diminishes with the square of the distance. Since gravitational attraction determines physical weight, it follows that objects get lighter with increasing altitude from the center of the earth. To be certain, for terrestrial purposes the effect is minimal, merely it predicts the

Excerpt from Chapter 2, on the varieties of visual weight:

"Distance increases visual weight. This argument contradicts what we know from physics. The gravitational police of the inverse foursquare states that concrete attraction diminishes with the foursquare of the distance. Since gravitational attraction determines concrete weight, it follows that objects become lighter with increasing distance from the center of the earth. To exist sure, for terrestrial purposes the issue is minimal, merely information technology predicts the reverse of what nosotros detect visually. When perception is anchored to the center of attraction, visual weight increases with distance."

1. Newton's "gravitational law of the inverse foursquare" - or just the inverse square law - is not an intuitive concept for most people without a science (physics) background.
two. After confusing said most people, he and so dismisses it as being minimal for "terrestrial objects" anyway, so what was the point? Why couldn't you lot but say why/when visual weight increases with distance? The inverse square law was never meant to be practical to "terrestrial objects" in the first place, and unless you're making outer space art bringing up this law was entirely pointless.

As an artist who used to be an electrical engineer, I read this book because it sounded promising on connecting art and science. But it was an overly long and dry and unnecessarily complex book. The intended audience is clearly not artists and offers minimal useful insights for fine art making. (Some other paragraph in some other chapter includes a very convoluted diction on perspective in painting/2D art and that it attempts to create the illusion of depth. This is another useless argument, similar saying I ate food because information technology's meant to brand me not hungry. No really? But then he has the brazenness to go along proverb that it is the act of the viewer looking at the art which gives information technology depth, basically undermining the work of the artist and the effort information technology takes to do correct perspective. If a painting is non being looked at, it "has no depth" considering it's non being utilized.)

The book reads as though he did inquiry and didn't want whatever of it to go to waste and then he jams all of it in, like the excerpt in a higher place. I requite it a generous 3 stars because it does offer some interesting ideas, however the book got irritatingly hard to read the more I read information technology. Information technology's a book of a dude who has a giant boner for himself and his mind/research. So if you're into overly complicated books that never go to the point, this is for you lot.

...more

Hay que estar atento a la versión que se ha traducido, pues el autor ha escrito más de una en inglés. La traducción al español es una de ellas.

Already past page 8 this book had inverse my whole way of seeing art.

Jan 21, 2018 Andrew rated information technology liked it

A lot of good insights, but, homo, was this hard to read: jargony with lots of long sentences. You lot can sense that High german was the writer's first language. A lot of good insights, but, man, was this hard to read: jargony with lots of long sentences. Yous can sense that German was the writer's get-go linguistic communication. ...more

Feb 28, 2013 Henry rated information technology it was astonishing

This is an amazing and extremely though-provoking book. It reveals, with a huge number of interesting and relevant examples, the dynamics of the "center". The workings of the heed - of the artist and the viewer - is explored in nifty detail. By ending with a psychological overlay, the book stresses its applicability to daily life. It will definitely make me remember of art, but life in general, much more differently. This is an amazing and extremely though-provoking book. Information technology reveals, with a huge number of interesting and relevant examples, the dynamics of the "center". The workings of the listen - of the artist and the viewer - is explored in great item. By ending with a psychological overlay, the book stresses its applicability to daily life. It volition definitely brand me recollect of art, simply life in full general, much more differently. ...more than

Unele concepte au fost destul de greu de înțeles pentru mine. Nu e o carte 'for dummies', dar am aflat câteva lucruri interesante privitoare la compoziție în pictură. Unele concepte au fost destul de greu de înțeles pentru mine. Nu e o bill of fare 'for dummies', dar am aflat câteva lucruri interesante privitoare la compoziție în pictură. ...more

Best book I've read on composition. All-time book I've read on composition. ...more

Testo eccellente, sperimentale e insieme rigoroso, ricco di esempi due east idee da studiare. È una miniera di riflessioni per chiunque si occupi di rappresentazione e composizione nello spazio.

Rudolf Arnheim (1904–2007) was a German-born author, art and flick theorist, and perceptual psychologist. He learned Gestalt psychology from studying nether Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler at the University of Berlin and applied it to fine art. His magnum opus was his book Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Heart (1954). Other major books by Arnheim have included Visual Thinking (xix Rudolf Arnheim (1904–2007) was a German-born author, art and film theorist, and perceptual psychologist. He learned Gestalt psychology from studying under Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler at the University of Berlin and practical it to fine art. His magnum opus was his book Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Artistic Eye (1954). Other major books by Arnheim have included Visual Thinking (1969), and The Power of the Center: A Study of Limerick in the Visual Arts (1982). Art and Visual Perception was revised, enlarged and published every bit a new version in 1974, and information technology has been translated into fourteen languages. He lived in Germany, Italian republic, England, and America. Near notably, Arnheim taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan. He has greatly influenced art history and psychology in America. ...more

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