Learning Activity – Form and Space

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.

I think the distinction becomes unclear at picture two, and I can see that the roundish shape makes it more difficult to see the distinction. Also, the sharp edges of the black in the last picture helps the white shape pop out more.

Here the first picture has a distinction in my eyes. The big black squares can work as a background, but also as an object. I almost think the distinction becomes clearer when black elements are added in the second picture. The third picture however has a distinction and the white background can appear as an object.

In these pictures I played around with the idea of creating an actual object out of the white background. I placed the black shapes creating an arrow at the end. However, I should have covered the rest of the square in black creating a more efficient distinction. I think these picture shows the effect of the principle closure very well also.

Here I worked with placing the big square of black in different places to see if that played out some distinction. I think it made a distinction when placed in the corner, in the middle and also to the right. The placement to the right almost creates and illusion, and when placed in the middle the white can look like a frame to the black background.

For the last pictures I just placed the black shapes by dropping them on the paper to see if it created some distinction. It didn’t work out so well as it just looks like random placed black objects.