Message Board: Complementarity

When creating a portfolio there are several key things to consider: 1) theme, 2) breadth and 3) organization. In other words, examine the relationship between unity and variety. These two words often seem to contradict one another. There is a term called complementarity which is rather complex but relates to the idea of contradictions. It states that everything has a little bit of its opposite within it. The classic example of this is the colors of green and red. These colors are opposite. But everything that is green has a little bit of red. And everything that is red has a little bit of green. The reason we can’t see the opposite color is because one of them dominates – one of them is so intense that it drowns out the other.

What are some ways in which you can show both unity and variety?

How do you cope with this contradiction? Think about the green and red example – how can this serve as a metaphor for unity and variety?

Can you think of examples from other genres or disciplines, like complementarity?

Message Board Topic: Urban Beauty

Berenice Abbott, Eugene Atget, and Henri Cartier-Bresson are known for presenting the urban, modernist environment with the same care and admiration as others have treated the landscape, the portrait and the natural world. Many have called this finding "beauty in the ugly" or in other words, representing something that we traditionally see as unattractive in ways that are attractive. How does the artist do this? What ways can you find beauty in the ugly? What makes something attractive? What makes something beautiful?