I think the saying is, "We fear what we do not understand"... isn't it amazing what fear does to ya?
kallan
· 1 month ago
Kia ora e Ken!
You have broached a long and celebrated idea in Art, that of constraint.
I studied photography at a time when b & w was the rage. A fashionable practice was what was known as composing in camera or 'in frame'. Such practice yielded a number of advantages among which was better definition promised in the finished product, for the maximum area of photographic plane was used thereby reducing grain (if it was unwanted) and also ensuring a sharper focus effect. But photographers in general found that this also helped them get better, more artistically 'framed' shots.
But the virtue of constraint isn't restricted to 2 dimensional Art. John Keats, at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote a sonnet on the sonnet, extolling the virtue of constraint:
If by dull rhymes our English must be chained, And, like Andromeda, the Sonnet sweet Fettered, in spite of pained loveliness, Let us find, if we must be constrained, Sandals more interwoven and complete To fit the naked foot of Poesy: Let us inspect the Lyre, and weigh the stress Of every chord, and see what may be gained By ear industrious, and attention meet; Misers of sound and syllable, no less Than Midas of his coinage, let us be Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown; So, if we may not let the Muse be free, She will be bound with garlands of her own.
Catchya later from Middle-earth
ChangeForge | Ken Stewart
· 1 month ago
Ken, so good to hear from you again. Your "voice" is always welcome here. Great observation, and I'm glad this (ahem) struck a chord.
All Comments
You have broached a long and celebrated idea in Art, that of constraint.
I studied photography at a time when b & w was the rage. A fashionable practice was what was known as composing in camera or 'in frame'. Such practice yielded a number of advantages among which was better definition promised in the finished product, for the maximum area of photographic plane was used thereby reducing grain (if it was unwanted) and also ensuring a sharper focus effect. But photographers in general found that this also helped them get better, more artistically 'framed' shots.
But the virtue of constraint isn't restricted to 2 dimensional Art. John Keats, at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote a sonnet on the sonnet, extolling the virtue of constraint:
If by dull rhymes our English must be chained,
And, like Andromeda, the Sonnet sweet
Fettered, in spite of pained loveliness,
Let us find, if we must be constrained,
Sandals more interwoven and complete
To fit the naked foot of Poesy:
Let us inspect the Lyre, and weigh the stress
Of every chord, and see what may be gained
By ear industrious, and attention meet;
Misers of sound and syllable, no less
Than Midas of his coinage, let us be
Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown;
So, if we may not let the Muse be free,
She will be bound with garlands of her own.
Catchya later
from Middle-earth