Rhythm and movement in art

[music] [music] >> Rhythm and movement are vital to life. Rhythm and movement are vital to art. Rhythm is a flow of movement which the artist selects and repeats to create a sense of life in his art. Movement becomes rhythm only when it is repeated. For the basis of all rhythm is repetition. >> [music] >> There are many kinds of rhythmic repeated movements to be discovered everywhere. We enjoy rhythmic activities. We feel the repeat. >> We also enjoy looking at rhythmic move. >> [music] [music] >> Dancing is a rhythm of feet, heads, hands, and body. >> [music] >> How does the artist create the feeling of movement in art? When the art itself cannot move. >> [music] >> Movement becomes rhythm when it is repeated. >> [music] >> So, the artist studies how movements repeat. He also notices how the repeated movement varies. Monet, the French Impressionist, has captured [music] the movement of rolling smoke and the bustle of a busy railroad station. Animal forms also are source of rhythmic movement in art. An artist [music] from India combined the rhythmic repetition of animals with the graceful movements of the man and his clothing. An artist may develop rhythm by the way [music] he applies his paint. Van Gogh has repeated curving brushstrokes to create a turbulent rhythm. Artists observe, but they do not copy what they see. They create their own rhythms. >> [music] >> Line is one of the major elements used to create rhythm and movement in art. Curving lines can be rhythmic. The curve of the breaking wave inspired the Japanese artist Hokusai. As the large wave breaks, many smaller waves repeat the curve. Seurat, a 19th century impressionist, used repeated curves to capture the rhythmic movements of circus performers. If you follow the repeated curves of these arches, your eye moves along rhythmically. In addition to curving lines, straight lines and rectangular shapes can also create rhythm and movement in art. When straight lines are placed at angles to each other, the repeated diagonals become rhythmic. >> [music] [music] >> Dark and light is another major element the artist may use to create rhythm and movement in art. Variations may be light against dark or dark against light. >> [music] >> You can discover rhythmic patterns of light and shadow everywhere. >> [music] >> Color is still another major element the artist may use to create rhythm. >> [music] >> This non-objective painting by Delaunay uses a rhythm of color and shape. Here the painter uses rhythms of [music] color and of shape. Color rhythms are created with irregular torn tissue in this collage. >> [music] >> Form is also a major element. >> [music] >> The artist may create shapes, surfaces, and planes that carry the eye around, along, and through the object. >> [music] >> An object may be designed for pure rhythmic beauty or it may be both beautiful and useful. >> [music] [music] >> How does the sculptor create a sense of rhythmic movement in his work? >> [music] >> A sculpture which does not move often expresses a strong feeling of movement. The accent created by interrupted [music] lines of direction increase the sense of movement. This sculptured fountain catches the graceful repeated movement of birds in flight. Oriental sculpture frequently uses flowing curves, leading the eye from part to part in graceful sweeping movements. >> [music] >> African sculpture often uses strong, simple rhythms. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Repetition then is the basis of rhythm. But what are the different kinds of repetition the artist may use? One simple kind of repetition is alternation. Left, right. Movement may alternate. Up, down, up, down, back and forth. This is visual alternation. A black, a white. Light and shadow may alternate to create rhythmic pattern. >> [music and bell] >> This is alternation of shape. Egg and dart, the famous Greek motifs. Here is another kind of repetition. Circles moving outward from the [music] center. This is called radio repetition. Living things often grow outward from a center. Fanning out is a variation of radio rhythm. >> [music] [music] >> Radio repetition may be used to create circular rhythms in art. >> [music] >> Many radio examples can be discovered. The spiral is another kind of radio repetition. Flaring out from a center in an expanding growing curve. The spiral has inspired artists [music] in all times. >> [music] >> Repetition may be regular or irregular. To create a rhythm of irregular repetition, we use accent. Accent is emphasis. It is repeated variation. >> [music] >> Accent may be a change in brightness. Pink, pink, red. Accent may be a change of shape. Round, round, square. Long, short, short, short. Or thin to thick brush strokes may create accent. Exciting irregular rhythms can be heard and seen. There is rhythmic repetition with accent in nature. The entire shell is rhythmic and so are its parts. The small curves create a rhythm varied with dark and light accents. The repetition of these curling leaves is accented by differences in shape and position. Most rhythms in nature tend to be irregular. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Throughout history, rhythm and movements in nature and the movements of people have inspired artists of all times and places. The repeated heads and arm movements of these Egyptian figures lead our eyes rhythmically. A Greek artist caught the movement of galloping horses. >> [bell] >> Feel the rhythm in this African mask. In Oriental art, like all art, we see repetition skillfully varied to avoid monotonous movement. The arts of our time express rhythm in many ways. In the graphic arts today, artists such as Josef Albers create completely imaginative rhythms. Architects may design rhythmic buildings which please us. We see and feel the repetition. Powerful rising repeats create the characteristic rhythm of Gothic architecture. >> [music] >> These graceful towers were designed by the modern architect Yamasaki. Le Corbusier's church in France is a contemporary masterpiece of rhythmic form. Severe, simple curves were employed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the New York Guggenheim Museum. For pure, imaginative, rhythmic design, few can compare [music] with Gaudi, the Spanish architect. >> [music] >> In one of the major arts today, motion pictures, rhythm and movement can be created with light and color. >> [music] >> Designs in motion take the eye on a rhythmic adventure. >> [music] [music] >> We learn about rhythm [music] and movement by discovering repetition. >> [music] [singing] >> We can also learn about rhythm by creating with many materials. >> [music] [music] >> In art, rhythm can move the eye in various ways. By repeating and varying curves. By using radial and spiral movements. By repeating straight lines and shapes. Through the use of angular movements and through any combination of straight, angular, and curved shapes of dark or light. Or, the artist may create color rhythms through skilled repetition. Rhythm is vital to life. Rhythm and movement are vital to art. Rhythm is a flow of movement which the artist organizes and repeats to create a sense of life in his art. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Hey.