Appreciating Art

Our text says that there should be only one focal point. I was initially drawn to this piece because of the play on balance; the top or lid appears to be floating on the base. But when I walked up to get a closer look it seemed that the focal point is actually the blue middle of the lid. Several of the principles of design are used to draw the eye there: the contrast of the blue against the red, radial balance, and the way movement is created. Several elements of design mentioned in the text are used to create movement. The red portion of this has lines of raised texture, which make an organic form that looks like fingerprints, which appear to be swirling towards the blue center of the lid. Volcanic toilet was the term that came to mind. I didn’t want to dwell on that, so I started examining the rest of the piece and was really intrigued by the melted copper section in between the lid and the base. Looking at the blobs was like looking at clouds, and I found myself seeing things in the shapes.

This particular section looked to me like a reindeer running out of a burning forest while a smiling gargoyle is reaching out to pull the reindeer back in. I really like how what is basically a bowl with a lid can become anything you project onto it.