Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
Elements and Principles of Design Tour
SHAPE: When a line crosses itself or intersects with another line to enclose a space it
creates a shape. Shape is two-dimensional. It has height and width but no depth.
See: The Wolf and Oil, 2012 by Jason Carter
What kind of shapes can you think of?
Geometric: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. We see them in architecture and
manufactured items.
Organic shapes: a leaf, seashell, flower. We see them in nature with characteristics that are
freeflowing, informal and irregular.
Static shapes: shapes that appear stable and resting.
Dynamic shapes: Shapes that appear moving and active.
What shapes do you see in this image? What shapes are positive and negative?
The composition is primarily composed of ‘loose’ geometric shapes - squares/rectangles/
triangles. Even an organic form like the wolf is made up of angular segments.
How do the shapes operate in this image?
Shapes are repeated in the image. The repetition of the rectangular buildings with blue-square
windows lead our eye back into space while the thin rectangular shapes in the background lead
our eye across the picture plane.
What quality do the shapes have? Does the quality of the shapes contribute to the
meaning or story suggested in the work?
Geometric shapes are those that are man-made in nature. The concentration or emphasis on
these shapes center the scene in an urban environment and may give the work a ‘harsher’ or
more oppresive feeling or mood than seen in other works in the exhibition.
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479
youraga.ca