VC: Basic & Complex Line Compositions

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the project thus far before I go any further. When we first received the assignment we were working individually and our first task was to create 15 line studies to illustrate progression, randomness and regularity. My approaches for the three words were similar in some aspects, but different in the rules I set up for myself.

Regularity:
I first thought about showing regularity using very thin lines with the same amount of black space and white space, which appeared as a gray solid from a distance. I also tried to think about regularity in terms of a pattern rather than using the same width of lines, I created a pattern with various line weights.

Basic Regular Study

Basic Regular Study

Randomness:
For randomness I tried to think, well, randomly. I gave myself about a minute to do the first thing that came to mind. I tried to quickly place down lines of different weights in different areas, select a group of lines and flip them, delete lines and etc.

Basic Random Study

Basic Random Study

Progression:

Creating distinctly different compositions for progression was difficult for me. Before starting, I decided that I would show progression with increasing black line weights, decreasing distances between the white, and with an accumulation of lines. It was frustrating when I finished each composition with each idea, and in the end they ended up looking similar. In addition, working mathematically although logical didn't work as perfectly as imagined.

Basic Progressive Study

Basic Progressive Study

For the second part of the assignment we were assigned a partner, Jumper being mine, and we combined our 15 basic studies to overlap and create complex studies. I would say this part of the assignment was the most challenging, because there were more things to think about. For the collaborative aspect of the project, we first spread out our basic compositions and discussed all the points that Jamie mentioned in class such as foreground and background, tonality and communication. Together we critiqued our work and devised a plan for our next steps. We decided to first fix our basic compositions, share our files, then create 15 complex compositions each. This way we would have a variety of compositions to choose from for critique. Throughout the process of creating complex studies we confined in each other for suggestions and had a series of mini critiques to make sure that we were on the same page.

Complex Random Study

Complex Random Study

Complex Progressive Study

Complex Progressive Study

Complex Regularity Study

Complex Regularity Study

The third part of the assignment was the most enjoyable, because we got to play. Experimentation and play can really bring out the creativity in a person. Anyways, for this round of the project we worked in analog means to create curvilinear and angular studies. Jamie gave us a lot of freedom, but the only limitation was that we could only use the projector, scanner, camera and photocopier. After critique Jumper and I didn't want to move on until we edited our complex studies. Jamie told us that it's sometimes a good thing to just dive right in rather than planning so much. I thought about it for a moment and since the complex studies really bogged our minds down, it wouldn't be a bad thing to just play and refresh our minds. Maybe in the process we'll find some inspiration for our complex studies so this is how we started working.

Angular Study

Curvilinear Study