Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Does there need to be a Point?

As quiltmakers we have all seen (and often made) many traditional quilts, and so we are used to our work not having a focal point (FP), but looking at art magazines (of course when I should be working!), the presence of the focal point, aka "centre of interest" is often discussed.

 We are shown exactly where to create the The Point - not in the middle - oh no!! (finger wags like the actress in the airlines' movie about not smoking on board!!! naughty naughty!!), in the middle would be a Bull's Eye!  Actually, it was never the bull's eye that bothered me, but its horns.   

But the FP couldn't be on the edge either, otherwise one's eyes would slide off - a rather painful and disfiguring process I would think...although flounders seem to adapt being born with an eye on each side of the head, and  gradually having one of them slide over to the other side...maybe they looked at too much bad art?

NO, the Point should be at one of the 4 corners of the "golden area" where the division in thirds lines cross.  Photographers, I've noticed, love the Rule of Thirds, I think it's all that figuring out of precise stops that makes them so obsessive.  Or leads the obsessive to that kind of photography - was it the chicken or the egg that held the camera first, I just don't know! but just mention Rule of Thirds to a photographer and see him light up!

We're also told precisely how to create an effpee - well yes I know that sounds a little lewd, but really it's not.  To create an Eff Pee  you use contrast! One variable against a very different one. Like ketchup on icecream, enough to make anyone want to eff pee, actually.

But why should we do it?  aha!! Now, pay Attention!! for IT (attention) is the name of the game, it's the cherry on the cake, the pay packet at the end of the week, the laugh line (after a pause - contrast, right?)......................................................................................................................................................................................................
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YES!!  (as Yoko Ono had printed on a small piece of paper pasted on the ceiling of the gallery which persuaded even John Lennon to claim up a ladder to read......
not only have a point (yes!  as Molly Bloom said - repeatedly if I recall - in Ulysses) but put it in an Important place and make your audience WORK to get it!

If one is good, arn't two better?  Well, think about a tennis game - imagine two balls flying back and forth across the court....your head would be spinning, to say nothing of the players' heads!  Generally speaking, "they" say - one main emphasis, but there can be secondary ones.....

It is conceded, however, that while having an FP really really helps to grab attention, you really don't have to have one -  if you have a reason for not having one.  If you want to emphasize the overall decorative quality of the piece, the traditional block quilt for example or paintings such as those of Lee Krasner or Agnes Martin where the aim is to evoke an overall mood.  You can also be making a point about the lack of a point......the point is the point is missing....as in Warhol's repetitive soup can paintings. 

Perhaps there does need to be a point to it after all?  but maybe, instead of reading art magazines I'll go and make a cup of tea - a much more productive distraction!
If you have been, thanks for reading!
AND...please do weigh in with your comments, I look forward to all the Points that you make!
Elizabeth

8 comments:

Connie in Alabama said...

You made me laugh, and think, in a week when the laughter and the thinking about the laughter have gone.

elle said...

I'm transitioning from quilter to mixed media and in thinking about grids I did wonder how some quilts don't follow the RULES but are so visually pleasing. This can be liberating. :) And lots of fun!

Mary Helen in OR said...

And -- Yes, I have been -- reading, that is! Thinking, too, from time to time. And that is probably the point of it all. To help me think. About art, about an efpee or is there an EF Pee? Libby Lehman recently decided to live since trying to die wasn't working out too well for her. (Her words - not mine) So, I'll keep trying to see the point even though I'm way past the second third. Thanks for the post.

Sharon Robinson said...

Yes, reading here, too. Very funny post! I have been thinking about the same topic. I don't think all art needs to have a focal point at all. I did some musing about the subject a few months ago... instead of making art. ;) http://miloscave.blogspot.com/2014/05/musings-on-abstraction-and-texture.html

Ann Knickerbocker said...

yes, perfect... making art according to an external rule makes somebody else's art, not your own... I was lucky and skated through without too many art professors giving me direction! I love the depths in the colors of this blocked quilt you showed us... And it's good to think of Agnes Martin. She said "we can know the truth by seeing ourselves, by seeing the response to the work in ourselves." Thanks!!

Aussie Jo said...

I'll have to have a cup of tea and think about this!

Leighway said...

Have just found your blog and website, courtesy of The Quilting Edge. I'm looking forward to reading backwards and savoring each posting. I love blogs that teach. Speaking of which, I see two of your classes on Academy of Quilting which are awaiting scheduling. They both look very interesting, in case the Academy is wondering if there is any interest.
And I'm glad you're in GA...I'm in the nowhere village of Acworth. Do you ever teach at any of the Atlanta (or GA) guilds?

Elizabeth Barton said...

Thank you to all for commenting - I love reading your comments - and especially enjoy it when people "get" my weirdo sense of humor!
Leighway - occasionally I teach in GA, but there isn't as much interest here as in other parts of the country I find. I was supposed to give a workshop at the Bascom (wonderful place) in Highlands last month and only one person signed up! I am giving short lectures to the guilds in Hall County and Lawrenceville in the winter though.