Where Does the Accent Fall?

Interruptions are magnets for our attention. We attend to them and try to fit them into a pattern, into meaning. A thunderclap has us turn to the weather; alert us to possible danger. Was it a thunderclap or something else? We hypothesize about the interruption. Is that knot a flaw in the fabric or part of a pattern. We look for other knots to determine whether it’s a flaw or intentional. We are conscious of singularities because, they are the accent that sets the stage; the accent reveals the continuity.

The Sun and moon are strong singularities that interrupt the pattern of clouds or rivulets of reflection or the even space of the sky. Because they are profoundly familiar they become semiconscious singularities in our daily life but, when placed in a painting they return to their role as an interrupting anomaly,  an attention magnet.  In paintings as in movies and literature we find metaphors. A clock face or an illuminated rock can become metaphors for  familiar singularities like the sun and moon. In example 1  observe Albert Bierstadt’s painting, Yosemite Valley. The Sun draws our attention first as the primary anomaly, the primary accent. We scan and assemble a set of focal sensations as we build our hypothesis.  We are attracted to anomalies in the order of their interruptive power. After the sun we find the sparkle of the river, the silhouetted shape of tree against the light.

In example 2 by John Constable the sun is absent but, implied by a large field of light providing a defining contrast to his tower. Towers have been historic symbols and subjects in all the arts. Think of Rapunzel. In building my images  I borrow these historic precedents when constructing my designs.  I exploit the idea of a metaphor for the sun or find another form of tower.  They are my principal anomalies or accents in a pattern of varying shapes. They interrupt the continuity of the rhythm and oblige us to stop then resume our quest for an hypothesis by collecting, assembling and prioritizing the pattern of  evidence.

example 1. Bierstadt’s Painting of Yosemite.

example 2. Constable’s Painting.

When we look at the anomaly (the interruption) the remainder of the image falls out of focus. Where ever we do not focus the center of our vision we see only vaguely, a blur. In my examples I know that viewers have experience assembling blurry and incomplete information into  hypothesies. It’s how we go through our lives. In example 1 ( step 1) I begin the process of simplification and accent identification. I don’t need to over-explain, to supply too much clarity because, it  interferes with building  a unified hypothesis, with finding a sensation that is akin to how we visually experience the world.  Example 3. has the basic ingredients of a epic, a tower (clock tower in Grand Central Station) and the sun (clock face), a protagonist, the promise of a journey, and a sensation of action, motion. But example 1 is too clear. More ambiguity is required to thicken the sense of adventure and mystery. The result is example 4, step two.  The contrast has been heightened as has the quality of uncertainty. The design has been simplified. The sun (clock) has been isolated to amplify is singularity. The clock and the protagonist have more edges and are more easily pulled from the visual noise of the image, as you can see in a detail from step 2 (example 4a).

example 3. Step one (as seen in a previous blog).

example 4. Step two.

example 4a. Detail from step two.

In example 5. I begin again (step 1)with more interest in  simultaneous color contrast effects than on  thematic unity and the simplicity of pattern. In example 6 (step 2) I change course. I confuse the edges further here  in example 6. I increase the contrast.  Since Plato we have observed the value of contrast and simplicity to draw our attention.

example 5. step 1.

example 6. step 2.

With example 7 (step 1) I centered the sun (very pale in step 1) on a colossal tower, the clock on the kiosk. I reinforced its power to illuminate by coupling its light with the light of a large window behind. The painting receives its luminance from this light emitting tower.   In example 8 (step two) you see how I proceeded to further fracture the tower and isolate figures hoping to engage the viewer in stringing together the broken bits into a coherent idea, a single theme, life in Grand Central Station.

example 7. step 1.

example 8. step 2.

With example 9 you can observe how I have tried another version of the same image. This is a separate painting. I have the two paintings running in parallel in my studio to help me tease out more possibilities from the image.

example 9. the alternate painting.

Some patterns are so suggestive we cannot see other possibilities. Ambiguity is thwarted especially when the iconography of a face appears. Any occasion with two side-by-side circles gives us the image of a face. To get back to a singular thematic accent  and suppress  facial recognition the image must be redesigned.  Example 10 presents a landscape photograph of water reflecting sunlight among rocks. The central column of solar reflection has divided the rock to appear as two ovals ( maybe a set of sunglasses).  Example 11 demonstrate through Photoshop cloning  how I dissolved the separated rock  into  a singular rock and removed the distracting facial iconography.

example 10. Facial construct.

example 11.  modified to offer a unified accent.

My last example (example 12), an oil on faux brushed silver anodized aluminum presents a marsh reflecting sunlight. The vertical column of light, a solar column of reflection becomes a tower of light. The sun gets converted into the tower. The light diffuses through the pattern, a pattern deliberately blurred. Edges are minimized around the masses but, the painting is interpenetrated by small slashes of  light, sparkling verticals. We assemble the fabric of texture into meaning. We begin with the accent the anomaly of bright light.

example 12.