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A Practical Exploration of Compositional Balance: Manifesto Document

Final Crit of Practical Work

Positive Feedback:

• Strong synthesis between theoretical research and practical. 
• Can see the development from tests and experiments into final outcomes. 
• The final outcomes reflect the creative process they were created with - can tell between ones made with rules and ones without. 

Thoughts: 

I am really happy with the feedback I got from this final crit. I think what I've been investigating and intending to achieve with this practical project has come across well to others, which is always nice to see. I agree with the comments that I should continue to investigate this beyond the research project within my general practice - I really like the idea of creating a series of similar screen-prints exploring composition. I think images like these could definitely work well on something more product/retail related - like soft furnishings (rugs, upholstery) or clothing. 

Survey

These are the results of the survey I conducted within the final practical crit. I did not get as many responses as I would have liked but the reactions to my work have proved interesting. In the survey, each category of images were either titled with "A", "B" or "C", to provide anonymity, and also numbered 1 to 3. The participants were then asked to mark in the corresponding column in response to two questions: "Which set of images have the most balanced compositions?" (out of each set) and, more specifically "Which individual image(s) have the most balanced composition(s)?"

A - Play 

B - Rules

C - Breaking the Rules

• Two thirds of participants marked in column B, meaning they think the category of images made using the manifesto of rules are most balanced. 
• The remaining third marked in column A ('Play') , and no one in column C ('Breaking The Rules"). 

• The most popular image, was B1 (featured below), which is balanced according to Arnheim's rule of homogeneity through the use of symmetry. 

What do these results mean for my practical research?

These results could support the argument that Arnheim's psychological theories are more effective in producing balanced composition than when purely working from creative intuition. It also supports the idea that symmetrical images represent a greater sense of balance than ones made up of counterbalancing forces. 

But are these results reliable?

• This has only been measured against my own sense of intuition - therefore it's a very narrow comparison from which to draw such a conclusion. 
• Can we trust the opinions of others to be fact - probably not because the way we appreciate artwork is always somewhat influenced by subjective taste. 
• Are these images complete reflections of compositional balance or even the theories outlined in the manifesto? They must to some extent be influenced by my own visual preferences. 

Final Collaged Paintings

• I made a final set of collaged paintings, 3 in each category of "Play", "Rules" and "Breaking the Rules". 
• I am overall very happy with these collages. I think each category reflects their own creative process but the common use of similar textures, colours and forms create a sense of continuity across all nine. 
• In the process of making these, however, I found it difficult to use the manifesto as a determinate set of rules - does this mean they do not fully reflect Arnheim's theories? 
• Personally I prefer the "Play" set of images. I think because they were made through a lot of testing and experimentation they have a sense of fluidity and playfulness to them that the others lack.
• The images made concerning "Rules" feel very rigid and definite in their structure.  

I would like to use the upcoming crit to conduct a survey, asking people which set of images they think have the most balanced compositions. I think this could help draw more interesting conclusions out of this research and resolve my curiosities on which works better - rules or creative intuition?