Rearrange shapes cut out of paper, and try to find the point at which the figure disappears into the ground.
- Cut out a series of shapes from black paper – squares, rectangles, circles and random shapes – in a variety of sizes, from small to large.
- Working with a square piece of white paper, place shapes of different sizes into the white space; place them on the white one at a time and move them around.
- Try to find the point where the distinction between figure and ground becomes unclear. Does it depend on which shape dominates the space: black or white? Is it about the position of the shape within the space? Think about how important figure-ground relationships are within composition and design.
While doing this assignment I found out something the amazed me. The point where the distinction between the figure and ground becomes unclear is not nessecarily when the figure is larger than the ground.
I cut out some small triangles, which i placed in every corner. This made it look like the ground was black, and the figure was white. Also when I replaced two of the corners with some big squares it could easily have been a black background. So I think its all about where the figure is placed, and not so much about its size.
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