A theory of pure design

by Denman Waldo Ross

THE ORDER OF RHYTHM

4. By the Order of Rhythm I mean changes of sensation; changes in muscular impressions as we feel them, in sounds as we hear them, in sights as we see them; changes in objects, people, or things as we know them and think of them, changes which induce the feeling or idea of movement, either in the duration of Time or in the extension of Space; provided that the changes take place at regular and marked intervals of time or in regular and marked measures of space. By regular intervals and measures I mean equal or lawfully varying intervals and measures. I do not mean, by Rhythm, changes simply, inducing the sense or idea of movement: I mean, by Rhythm, a regularity of changes in a regularity of measures, with the effect of movement upon our minds.

Rhythms in Time differ from Rhythms in Space, inasmuch as the movement in Time is in one direction, inevitably. It lies in the duration and passing of time, from which nothing escapes. The movement in space, on the contrary, may be in any one of many possible directions. A movement in different directions, particularly in contrary directions, amounts to a negation of movement. In any space-rhythm, therefore, the direction in which the rhythm leads us, the direction in which we follow it, must be unmistakable.

5. Of these three principles of Order, the first and foremost, the most far-reaching and comprehensive, is the principle of Harmony. We have Harmony in all balances, and we have it also in all rhythms. It is, therefore, undesirable to think of the three principles as coördinate. It will be better to think of the principle of Harmony first, and then of two other principles, those of Balance and of Rhythm, as lying within the range of Harmony but not coextensive with it. We might express the idea in a logical diagram.

Fig. 1

Within the field of Harmony we have two distinct modes of Order—Balance and Rhythm; but we have Harmony beyond the range of Balance and beyond the range of Rhythm.

In cases where rhythms, corresponding in character and in direction of movement, are set side by side, one on the right, the other on the left, of a vertical axis, so that they balance, one against the other, and the vertical axis of the balance is the line of the movement, we have the union of all three principles. This idea, also, may be expressed in a logical diagram.

Fig. 2

Examples of this union of the three principles of Order will be given farther on.

BEAUTY A SUPREME INSTANCE
OF ORDER

6. I refrain from any reference to Beauty as a principle of Design. It is not a principle, but an experience. It is an experience which defies analysis and has no explanation. We distinguish it from all other experiences. It gives us pleasure, perhaps the highest pleasure that we have. At the same time it is idle to talk about it, or to write about it. The less said about it the better. “It is beautiful,” you say. Then somebody asks, “Why is it beautiful?” There is no answer to that question. You say it is beautiful because it gives you pleasure: but other things give you pleasure which are not beautiful. Pleasure is, therefore, no criterion of Beauty. What is the pleasure which Beauty gives? It is the pleasure which you have in the sense of Beauty. That is all you can say. You cannot explain either the experience or the kind of pleasure which it gives you.

While I am quite unable to give any definition or explanation of Beauty, I know where to look for it, where I am sure to find it. The Beautiful is revealed, always, so far as I know, in the forms of Order, in the modes of Harmony, of Balance, or of Rhythm. While there are many instances of Harmony, Balance, and Rhythm which are not particularly beautiful, there is, I believe, nothing really beautiful which is not orderly in one or the other, in two, or in all three of these modes. In seeking the Beautiful, therefore, we look for it in instances of Order, in instances of Harmony, Balance, and Rhythm. We shall find it in what may be called supreme instances. This is perhaps our nearest approach to a definition of Beauty: that it is a supreme instance of Order, intuitively felt, instinctively appreciated.

THE ARTS AS DIFFERENT MODES
OF EXPRESSION

7. The Arts are different forms or modes of expression: modes of feeling, modes of thought, modes of action. There are many Arts in which different terms of expression, different materials, different methods are used. The principal Arts are (1) Gymnastics, including Dancing, (2) Music, (3) Speech, spoken and written, (4) Construction with all kinds of materials, (5) Sculpture, including Modeling and Carving, (6) Drawing and Painting. These are the principal Arts, but there are many others, more or less connected with them. Design comes into all of these Arts, bringing Order, in some cases Beauty.

THE ART OF DRAWING
AND PAINTING

8. The Art which I have studied and practiced, the Art in which I am giving instruction, is that of Drawing and Painting.

By the Art of Drawing and Painting I mean expression in pigment-tones (values, colors, intensities of color) spread in different measures or quantities and in different shapes: shapes being differences of character given to a line by its straightness or curvature, to a spot or area by its outline or contour. By Drawing and Painting I mean, therefore, expression by lines and spots of paint.

TWO MODES OF DRAWING
AND PAINTING

9. There are two modes of Drawing and Painting, the mode of Pure Design and the mode of Representation.