Month: November 2020

This one gets close to the random/not-random boundary.

There are several places with four or five consecutive dots. There is one place with seven dots on a diagonal. You would not expect this from a collection of random dots at this approximately 20% density.

That does not mean that there is a pattern. It is fun to try to discover a pattern. You start to see a pattern, and then it fades away.

As mentioned in Monochrome #1, many of these images arose from a now abandoned order and chaos series. As part of that series I asked what would happen if some dots were removed from a regular grid. What does the boundary between order and chaos look like. Or, in this case the boundary between random and not-random.

In this one you may notice symmetry from a flip across the lower left / upper right diagonal. The other diagonal teases at a similar mirror symmetry, but it is not there.

You may also see hyperbolic (Hyperbola) curves in the upper right and lower left quadrants. That is by design. So this one is not-random, although it is clearly closer to the random/not-random boundary than an obvious wall-paper type pattern of dots.

Lonely, Isolated.

This is Monochrome #3, with the fuzzy white dot either smaller or farther away.

I never tried using this as a template for finished art work. Maybe someday. There are some pieces where the main central figure is small. For example Bugs #6, and Bugs #12. But the surrounding space is not empty. The little figure is supported by the thin designs in the background. Bugs #9 has a mostly empty background, but the little bit of background design still supports, lifts up, and frames the small central figure.

It is not that I have a policy against creating art that evokes feelings of loneliness or isolation. Rather there is a compulsion to fill up the empty space, and as a result nothing is ever lonely.

Negative of yesterday’s post Monochrome #5.

You might think this was inspired by a Soundgarden song (youtube). But it is nothing so deep. It is just a mechanical transformation of the previous piece.

Warm, Protective.

Yesterday, I was investigating putting the bright spot slightly off-center, Monochrome #4. At the time, I did not think about possible differences due to the direction of the offset. I mentioned that in passing, and was going to leave it there. But leaving it as a passing comment seemed incomplete. So I had to go back and create today’s picture.

This one is basically yesterday’s post mirrored across the horizontal center line.

The image suggests a sun in the sky, which probably accounts for my initial reaction.

Mischievous, Roguish. A child that will not stay still for a photograph.

Again, this is an experiment. What do I feel, first impressions, when I see this? Why? How does this translate to more complex pieces?

The image is trying to move the focus off center. The single fuzzy white dot is shifted down and to the right compared to Monochrome 3. Same clean shape, but it not, as if it refuses to be, where you expect it. Staying in the center is too expected, too symmetric.

When I am working on something and notice that main point of interest is in the center, I immediately feel compelled to change that; I cannot consciously do the normal or expected thing. So I shift the view slightly. The viewer experiences a subconscious search and then discovery to find the central feature. Just a playful tease.

Most of the time I shift the main feature to the right and down. I do not know why I favor that direction. I am not sure what different directions mean. Perhaps a shift lower is something that is grounded. Whereas a shift up suggests rising or falling.

Friendly, Confident, Bold. Although sometimes Menacing, Invasive. The latter when it reminds me of a Dalek’s lens.

I have many pictures of these fuzzy white dots on my hard drive. I have grown quite fond of them. I created them more as an experiment than as finished work. I see them as an abstraction or template for art. (Abstraction in the general and original artistic sense.)

I led with some possible emotional reactions to this image. Now a technical examination. The viewer’s attention is drawn to the center. The focal point is the exact center of the canvas. Focus or interest wanders towards the edges, then snaps back to the center.

Center focus is the default when I am creating much more complex pieces. If I am thinking about things other than the viewer’s center of focus, it inevitably ends up at the center of the canvas. The feature I find most interesting is placed dead center, smaller supporting features surround and support it, fading out to the edges. Most things are designed this way. It is not creative, it is just the default.