Moving towards abstraction

Author: Sun Jing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: The meaning of the term "abstract" is not fixed in different contexts. It is unrealistic to provide a comprehensive and thorough explanation of "abstract." Different people have different understandings. Within the realm of design, "moving toward abstraction" does not mean moving away from abstraction but rather discovering, interpreting, and applying abstraction within the broader context of nature, science, and art. "Moving toward abstraction" here might be understood as a design behavior, a design way of thinking, a design attitude, a design spirit, or even a design slogan. The process of learning design is also a process of accumulating aesthetic experiences. Although we have been consciously or unconsciously exposed to abstraction, consciously expressing abstraction is different from generally understanding it. For beginners, the process of recognizing abstraction is essentially the process of learning "how to see" and "what to see." In practical teaching, a series of design exercises are used to help students break free from the constraints of their inherent visual experiences and visual perceptions, encouraging them to think about, recognize, and express abstraction from different perspectives. They are encouraged to view abstract elements as the "building materials" of artistic design works, experimenting with new design forms and the new visuals created by these forms. This is both a matter of design perspective and a matter of design methodology. Some concepts in this book directly benefit from the research of predecessors, and therefore, sincere gratitude is extended to the authors of the cited works, papers, and materials.