1. RHYTHM & MOVEMENT
Chapter 9 ArtTalk Text

2. Rhythm
Rhythm is the principle of design that indicates movement by the repetition of elements
Rhythm is used in every art form
Rhythm can be created visually and can also occur in nature.
Rhythms are comforting (expressive quality)

3. Visual Rhythm
Visual rhythm is rhythm you see through your eyes rather than hear through your ears as in music
In this painting by Charles Burchfield, the artist uses repetitive color, lines, shapes, and patterns to create rhythm to express the living force in the natural environment.
Charles Ephraim Burchfield, May Wind Watercolor on paper. 30” x 40”.

4. Rhythm Everywhere you look you can see visual rhythms.
Books in a bookcase
Cars in a parking lot
People in line
Traffic on the freeway
Visual rhythm creates the sensation of movement as the viewer’s eye follows the visual beats through a work of art.
Yvonne Jacquette, "Three Night Views of Minneapolis II (Left Panel)“

5. Rhythm
Visual rhythm does not create actual movement like a ball bouncing across a room would.
Visual rhythm can create the same sensation by “bouncing” your eye from one shape to another.
In this image, rhythm is created with the use of negative space in between the shapes that you see.
Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair Oil on canvas x cm (96 ¼ x 199 ½ in). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

6. Repetition Rhythm is a result of repetition.
Motif and pattern are often used in talking about repetition.
Motif is a unit that is repeated in visual rhythm – a repeated pattern, image or theme, and not necessarily repeated exactly.
Pattern is a two-dimensional decorative visual repetition.
Pattern is flat, decorative, and can be visually uninteresting.
This is a floral motif
This has a striped pattern

7. Pattern Rhythm / Movement
A pattern may have a motif which is repeated.
All rhythm has a pattern, but not all pattern has a rhythm, some patterns have a rhythm.

8. Examples of Motif
In a marching band, one band member is a motif even though each band member carries a different instrument.
In a grocery store, one can is a motif even though the products in the cans may be different

9. Rhythm / Movement Module: a 3-D motif is called a module.
In sculpture and architecture, the ‘motif’ is called a module, a standard matching unit.

10. Rhythm
Different rhythms are created with different arrangements of motif and space.
There are 5 types of rhythm:
Random
Regular
Alternating
Flowing
Progressive
Dale Chihuly, Clear Venetian with Birds Glass. 14 x 11 x 10 in.

11. Rhythm
Random rhythm is a motif repeated in no apparent order, with no regular spaces in between. Examples of random rhythm are leaves on the ground, cracks in mud, and splashes of paint.

12. Rhythm
Regular rhythm has identical motifs and equal amounts of space between them.
Regular rhythm has a steady beat.
Regular rhythms are used to organize things, (parking spaces, groceries on the supermarket shelf).
Regular rhythm can become boring if overdone (expressive quality).
Wrapper (kente). Asante peoples. Bonwire, Ghana. Early-mid 20th century. Silk, synthetic dye. H x W: x 136 cm (94 x 53 9/16 in.). National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Natural History

13. Rhythm
Alternating rhythm does create interest, and relieve monotony (expressive quality).
Alternating rhythm can occur in several ways:
Introduce a second motif.
Make a change in the placement or content of the original motif.
Change the spaces between motifs.
Change the position of the motif, for example, turning the motif upside down.
Footed Dish, Early 18th century. Japanese. Nabeshima ware. h x diam: 2 1/8 x 7 7/8 inches (5.4 x 20 cm).
Shoulder Bag. Creek. Georgia or Alabama – 30. wool fabric, cotton fabric and thread, silk ribbon, glass beads. Strap: x 71/8 in. Bag: 7 5/8 x 4 in.

14. Rhythm Flowing rhythm is created by repeating wavy lines.
Curved shapes such as rolling hills or ocean waves create rolling rhythms.
Flowing rhythm has no sudden breaks in the movement of flowing lines.
This rhythm suggests the movement of wind, water, or even flames. This rhythm is soothing, or hypnotic (expressive quality).

15. Rhythm
Progressive: In progressive rhythm, there is a change in the motif each time the motif is repeated.
Example: a motif may start as a square, but as the design continues, the square will change, perhaps becoming smaller each time, or changing shape slowly until it is a circle, or a bird.
In Balla’s Street Light, the light is represented by a progression of line and color. Color progresses from white and yellow near the lamp itself to reds and lavenders as it gets further out. The line changes from small, tight v shapes to wider and larger v shapes.
Giacomo Balla, Street Light Oil on canvas x cm (68 ¼ x 45 ¼ in). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

16. Movement What is movement why is it important in visual art?
Movement is the principle of design used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide the viewer’s eye throughout an artwork.
All artworks have movement.
Any element may be used to create movement in an artwork.
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending A Staircase, No Oil on canvas.57 7/8 x 35 1/8 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art.

17. Movement
In this picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the picture is not actually moving at all.
However, when you look at the picture, your eye is drawn to the big support in the left center of the image.
Then your eye is carried through the sweep of the diagonal cable off into the distance, thus creating movement.

18. Movement
Movement may be smooth and flowing, creating a calm or comfortable feeling (expressive quality).

19. Movement
Movement may be quick, abrupt, or jumpy, creating an excited, tense, or nervous quality (expressive quality) in the artwork.

20. Movement Movement using mainly Line
Joan Miró. Women and Birds at Sunrise Oil on canvas. 54 x 65 cm. Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain.

21. Movement Movement using mainly color:
Vincent Van Gogh, The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night Oil on canvas. Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands.

22. Movement Movement using mainly value
M. C. Escher, Sky and Water Woodcut.
M.C. Escher, Other World Wood engraving and woodcut in black, reddish brown, printed from 3 blocks

23. Movement Movement using mainly texture
Jackson Pollock, No Alkyds on canvas. 8’ x 4’.

24. Movement Movement created mainly with shapes and space:
Miriam Schapiro, Anna and David Aluminum and paint. Thirty-five feet high and 31 feet wide, weighing 1,200 pounds

25. Movement
Dynamism: one art style or movement called the Futurists, used the word dynamism to refer to the forces of movement. They believed that nothing was solid or stable (atoms) and that art could show or illustrate actual motion.
Giacomo Bella. Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash Oil on canvas x cm (35 1/8 x 43 ¼ in). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

26. Movement Dynamism / Futurists
In 2-D work the Futurists illustrated dynamism by superimposing many different consecutive views of the subject onto the same surface.
In 3-D work they incorporated actual motion into the works of Kinetic sculpture and mobiles.
Umberto Boccioni, The City Rises Oil on canvas. 6’ 6 ½” x 9’ 10 ½”. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

27. Movement Dynamism Futurists
Kinetic Sculptures were works that used air currents and gravity to create actual motion in the work. This evolved eventually so that actual motors, or even lights could be incorporated to allow movement.
Mobiles are sculptures that are suspended, normally from the ceiling, and incorporate motion by means of the flow of air.
Alexander Calder. Lobster Trap and Fish Tail Hanging mobile. Painted steel wire and sheet aluminum x .29 (8’6” x 9’6”). The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

28. Meet the Artist Chuck Close
American, b. 1940
Chuck Close is a portrait painter, but not in the traditional sense.
He works on an extremely large scale.
He creates his work based on photographs he has taken of people.
He was known as a leading Photo-Realist in his early career.

29. Chuck Close
In the late 1980’s he suffered a sudden illness that left him partially paralyzed. He could use his arms, but he could no longer use his hands.
He now paints with a devise that is strapped onto his arm, to which a brush is attached.

30. Chuck Close
He can not walk, is confined to a wheelchair, and uses a forklift to raise him above the floor to work on his large scale paintings.
His work is no longer Photo-Realistic, but are completed in his own personal style (form). He still works from photos which have been gridded but the artworks are now filled with color and light.

31. Movement & Rhythm Building Vocabulary
Write the definitions below, and write the term that each describes.
The principle of design that indicates movement by the repetition of elements.
Rhythm you receive through the eyes rather than through the ears.
A unit that is repeated in visual rhythm.
A three dimensional motif.
A 2-D decorative visual repetition.
The principle of design used to create the look and feeling of action.
The principle of design used to guide the viewers eye through the work of art.
A sculpture that actually moves in space.

32. Movement and Rhythm Reviewing Art Facts
Write out the following questions, and give the answer for each.
What is movement?
How is movement created in visual art?
What is rhythm in visual art?
In general how is visual rhythm created in art?
What is the difference between rhythm and movement?
How are rhythm and movement the same?
What is the difference between rhythm and pattern?
In general how are each of the different rhythms created? ( list these, define or explain each, and draw and example for each)
Which elements are used to create movement? ( draw 4 examples to illustrate )