Figure ground woodblock

1. Figure Ground Positive/negative shape interaction

2. Figure Ground defined The figure is the subject (emotional focus) of an image and the ground is the area which the figure occupies The figure is also referred to as the positive space while the ground is considered the negative space The figure and ground define each other and are both necessary in an image (puzzle pieces)

3. “One can then state as a fundamental principle: When two fields have a common border, and one is seen as the figure and the other as ground, the immediate perceptual experience is characterized by a shaping effect which emerges from the common border of the fields and which operates only on one field or operates more strongly on one than on the other.” Edgar Rubin, 1915

4. Both the faces and vase can be perceived as the figure, but only one at a time. When one is viewed as the figure it’s surrounding space, ground, is formless and acts only to define the contour of the figure. Rubin’s work influenced the Gestalt theorists who later studied many of the same principles.

5. Gestalt psychology come out of the Berlin School in the early 20 th century. It states that humans perceive major shapes and forms before recognizing the parts and details that make up the larger whole. The two gestalt systems that most relate to figure/ground relationships are “reification” and “ multistability ”

6. Reification: Constructive perception, by which the experience percept contains more spatial information than the sensory stimulus on which it is based. In other words, we see a shape by what is implied in the provided imagery.

7. Multistability : the tendency of ambiguous perceptual experience to pop back and forth unstably between two or more alternative interpretations. Necker Cube and Rubin’s face/vase are perfect examples.

8. M.C. Escher Dutch artist known for designing ambiguous figure/ground relationships in his prints and drawings.

9. Frank Miller Author of graphic novels known for harsh subject matter and jarring imagery.

10. Mimbres Pottery

11. Robert Longo

12. Yayoi Kusama

13. Kara Walker