The Manifest for Applied Abstract Art

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Applied Abstract Art – Evolution towards perfection

It is clearly evident that almost nothing has remained from the “Applied Abstract Art Language Principles” section and gray-scale versions of artworks are not produced anymore, since a much deeper awareness to color balance has produced artworks that although show less than 20% color coverage still look vibrant, dynamic and cheerful. Several motifs are still in use, such as the Mind’s Eye. The goals and statement of applied abstract art are still the same, but the way of achieving these goals is much more fluent, spontaneous, harmonious, confident and whole. I even started defying the basic principles of color balance in terms of their respective weights, as defined by Mondrian and adapted by me, in artworks such as Tsunami Road, because it better fitted in this particular case.

Compromises must be made either in terms of staying truthful to realistic depiction of elements and perspectives, or in terms of staying loyal to visuals that abide only by the logical structure of the content, or in terms of adhering to the formative and colorfulness principles of applied abstract art itself, in order to reach a stage where all elements mesh perfectly, symbiotically and harmoniously. A way can always be found to do so, and if not, than this probably means that the time has not ripened to complete that particular artwork.

So for the time being, let’s continue evolving.

What is Applied Abstract Art?

1. The influence of Mondrian’s philosophy

If you look at Mondrian’s artworks you can see that the whole point was basically to find the perfect balance of composition in terms of color weight and positioning color areas and lines. This was the fundamental principle of Mondrian’s abstract, which he practiced very scrupulously. He went out of the primary assumptions that Yellow is the lightest color in judgmental perception, Red is heavier and Blue is the heaviest, so their presence and position in the artwork should be respective of their weight, in order to achieve that balance. Behind that mission to find the perfect balance there was the higher goal of attaining a frequency of harmony, a sense of Higher Perfection, which is, in his idea, the manifestation of the ultimate of nature, of the universe, of life. And this is why Abstract, this is why the complete absence of any figurative depictions, that was his way to transcend the mundane, to manifest the absolute. I deeply relate to that.

2. The limitations of Mondrian’s abstract

Click image to enlarge

However, I feel that Mondrian eventually became a slave to very fixated and limited principles of expression, which cannot deliver any message beyond the mere attempt to reflect harmony of creation. And, hey, how far can that get you even if you really achieve it? And how possible is it really to achieve that anyway? OK, so we have seen your squares and quadrangles, we have seen your straight lines, we have seen your yellow, your blue and your red… OK, good, we have seen one, we have seen two, we have seen ten… And so, now what? What are we supposed to do with it, just keep staring at it? Where’s the point? What’s the message?

Every creation should have a purpose, it does have a purpose – nothing is manufactured for vain. Everything manufactured should be applicable, or else it is plainly wasted time and attention. Mondrian was aspiring so much for that harmony, that he was obliged to simplify his work to the extent of complete abstraction, and by that was forced to create things which have no point and purpose whatsoever, and that do not relate to the common man, or any man for that purpose.

3. The Goals of Applied Abstract Art

1. To reach the perfect balance between composition, colorfulness and content-oriented essence. It’s like a tripod where each of them serves the others. Every element in the artwork should aim to embody these three essentials of color, formation and content. No element should be placed just for the sake of color balance, or just for the sake of composition balance, or just for the sake of content. None should disturb the others.



2. Depicting content and conveying messages in the most concise and essential way possible. Not only should the number of elements used to achieve these goals be minimal and aspire to the absolute essence, but the elements themselves should be as simplified, flat and abstract as possible, without them loosing their associative perception qualities. In other words, the approach towards the choice of elements should be as that of towards Morse coding in verbal communication – essential, flat and clear, and the approach towards the depiction of the chosen elements should be as that of towards icon design – archetypical, universal and immediate. Simplifying the elements without loosing their essence, is actually the penetration into the deepest essence of the element’s nature, the underlying intrinsic characteristics without which they would cease to be themselves and vaporize into complete abstractness. You can read more about this in Infographic Abstract Art
3. No choice or solution should be arbitrary as a compulsive outburst of emotion. A reason must be behind it. You add or subtract an element to the composition at such and such place because… and that element means… and it is red because… And it helps to manifest the content and convey the message in such ans such way… When there is awareness there is purpose, when there is purpose there is essence. So one must find a solution of how to convey purposeful messages without harming the balance of composition and colorfulness. Moreover, when the balance between the three essentials is perfect they intensify each other and the impression of the artwork as a whole. You can read more about this in Conceptual Abstract Art
4. Let these very goals and their derivative productive outcomes evolve; evolve in each artwork as a cell, and within the boundaries of the entire language and the concept of Applied-abstract art as an organism. Let the forces and rules of applied-abstract be determined but not rigid, flexible but not obscure, aware but not condescending. Let it aspire to the nature of God as much as possible and by that manifest the morally and spiritually evolving mind of the artist himself. Heighten our moral standards, deepen our spiritual awareness, establish our penetrating wisdom,  and remain committed to the making of efforts and not to succeeding.

4. The Digital Nature of Applied Abstract Art

First off, let us assume that what makes or breaks good art is not the media, OK? Good. If not good, than try reading The Artistry of Art. Secondly, when it comes to abstract art, the way Mondrian intended for it to be, hence that which embodies characteristics such as meticulousness, accuracy and purity in order to manifest spiritual and/or cosmological qualities, such as harmony, balance and perfection, than messing with filthy oil colors and applying them by gross hand on a canvas, seems to me not only demeaning but even contradictive to what he was trying to achieve. I feel art should be something clean and tidy, even sterile. Wearing work clothes and getting my self dirty just to convey a certain message is not my type of thing, at least not until this moment.

Hey, this is the 21st century – we can do it better now, or at least I can.

Glossary

Element » (1) An area confined by intersecting lines to form a closed shape (2) An area or form defined by a single solid color and/or the artwork’s boundaries (3) An area or form defined by the lack of color, hence by the colors surrounding it.

Sub-element » A feature in an element, which is not splitting the element totally and is confined to the element’s boundaries.

Title tag » The green plate of color containing the title caption of the artwork

Ego » The term Ego is used the meaning is in its wider Buddhist context, hence the spiritual accumulation of ignorance, craving, aversion pride and fear, which separates us from the ultimate reality, from Nirvana, from God.

Applied Abstract Art Language Principles

1. Perspectives (still not concluded)

Although this is abstract, it is also applied. I wish to be able to convey actual messages and utilize applied abstract for practical purposes of communication. There fore, at times a sense of perspective should be available for use. However, in order to simplify matters and abstain from complex realistic depictions, all principles of linear perspectives have been narrowed down to a set of guidelines to achieve flat perspectives, as follows:

1. As this is applied abstract, all the following principles are subject first and foremost, to content-oriented hierarchies, should they exist in any given artwork. The spiritual or thematic importance of an element can take precedence over the principles of flat perspective and defy them.
2. The sense of perspective in the level of composition will be achieved only by the use of plain and uniform receding grid lines (see later) to any vanishing point to be dictated by the content.
3. Elements can take decreasing sizes in order to enhance the impression of perspective, but they should remain two-dimensional (flat) in their formative depiction.
4. The principle of foreshortening distortion should not be applied onto single elements. The perception of their depth will be achieved only by clipping the extremities of the elements as is, adapting the formation or features the sub-elements elements to fit the new shape, and closing the elements with uniform diagonal lines parallel to the perspective grid lines. Generally speaking, the perspective of elements cannot be perceived correctly without the support of perspective grid lines. Example for applying the principle of flat perspective:
   
5. The principles of linear perspective in terms of depth perception should not be applied onto the relations among several elements, hence depicting them more proximate to each other as they farther into the depth.

2. Content Oriented Composition and Formation

1. Aspire for all the elements to be the simplified formative depictions of defined recognizable objects and not purposeless free-form abstracts. The “Structures & Patters Series” there is a room for such visual experimentation and expression, which do not bare any particular meaning or message.
2. Try to minimize the number of elements to a minimum. Every line should have a meaning and purpose and not only in terms of pure composition and color scheme, but of content as well. Refine the absolute essence of the artwork’s message and portray it as simply and straight-forwardly as possible.
3. Try to use primary shapes only: quadrangles (not necessarily squares) and triangles (not necessarily right triangles).
4. Evey element should relate to at least one other element, in terms of composition, color and content. The least to aspire to is conscious awareness in every decision as to the characteristics of each element and their relation to all the other elements.
5. Circles and ellipses are only used to depict the following:

3. Lines

Lines which constitute the basic structure of the composition are called Grid Lines. The role of the grid lines is to enhance the definition of elements in the artwork, emphasize the structure of the composition, and guide the manifestation of the content. They are the pure essence of the artwork to such an extent that the artwork can rely solely on them to deliver its message and express its essence, without the need of color. For that reason, I feel that many times the lines are the drama of the artwork and not the colors. With that in mind:

1. Color » The composition’s grid lines should always be 100% black. In cases where a minute touch of color is needed use thinner lines to enclose that element.
2. Consolidation » unify lines wherever possible
3. Thickness » Use no more than 3-4 levels of thickness in the entire artwork:
   • Composition grid and primary elements » thickness level x
   • Finer features for composition and elements » thickness level 2/3x
   • Human contours » thickness level 1/3x
   • Facial features / The Mind’s Eye » thickness level 1/4x
4. Angles »

4. Color Scheme

1. Use only the primary colors Yellow, Red and Blue
2. Yellow is the lightest, red is heavier, blue is the heaviest. Their presence in the artwork should be respective of their weight
3. Try to avoid more than 50% coverage of colors on the entire artwork; the rest should be white.
4. Each color will be enclosed in black grid lines
5. Each element will be depicted with 2 primaries at the most to avoid saturation. Each primary will be contained in it’s own sub-element. If 3 primaries are used in the same element than a separating white sub-element should be applied.
6. Green should only be used in titles and icon indexes
   

5. Titles

1. Try to find the 2-3 words that embody the essence of the artwork. Aim towards catchy phrases and words combination. Why? Art should try to relate to people in all walks of life and not for the sake of popularity as a goal, but rather of popularity as a means to do good to as many as possible.
2. Title font is based on the above principles. It uses negative green to distinguish itself from the primary colors of the artworks and to shatter the monotony of color perception.
3. The title tag should not occupy more than 10% of the artwork’s larger dimension, and no less than 15cm in length. So if an artwork is 115cmX170cm, than the title tag should not exceed the length of 17cm.
4. The title tags can be placed horizontally or vertically or diagonally, which ever suits the composition best

Symbols and Motifs

1. The Mind’s Eye

The Mind’s Eye (the Divine Eye, the Third Eye) is the eye with the blue pupil at the center of the forehead, symbolizing the conscious awareness of the spiritual pursuer. This is the observation of reality and nature’s phenomenons devoid of the Ego’s judgment and stripped of past conditioning.

The Mind’s Eye has three phases as follows:

Awakened » In the sense of the spiritual essence of life and aware of the deeper aspects of reality by the power of meditation.

Semi-awake » On the fence of realization of the deeper aspects of reality and life. Everything in between full awareness and complete numbness.

Asleep » Have yet to emerge out of the shell of complete illusion of the external appearances and sense desires.

2. The Urban Monk

The suited figure with the mind’s eye at the fore head. I first used this figure in the artwork Know Thyself, the Infographic Art way, and indeed in many senses it is me: elegant, condescending, alone, strict, deep, observant, serious and somewhat sad. the urban monk wonders around in the world in this day and age where everything is cheap, shallow, immediate, vapid and materialistic and seeks the truth behind the apparent reality and external appearances, demeanor, expressions and patterns of thought and emotion.

3. Observation Breaks

At times, such as in “dream peaks”, a sudden tear occurs in the composition, breaking the lines into dotted sequences and stripping off the color. mostly this will appear when the urban monk is present but not necessarily. the observation breaks symbolically reveal the true nature of things, as they are perceived by the urban monk.
the observation breaks will be depicted by a separating double-line filled with white.

Gray-scale Versions

Many artworks will have a gray-scale version with a touch of color. Many times reducing the artwork to its gray-scale form will bring out a totally different experience of observation, as well as emphasize by nature details, forms and shapes that were overwhelmed by the saturation of color in the color-version. The additional touch of color should not be arbitrary. Applying it should induce yet another, deeper process of awareness and contemplation that will eventually reveal the true and pure essence and message of the artwork. That essence alone should be emphasized by that extra touch of color.

The use of gray-scales should be as follows:

• Yellow » 15% black
• Red » 45% black
• Blue » 80% black