Reading Reflection: ‘Point and Line to Plane’ by Wassily Kandinsky

Here is a sample from my studio of the ‘string’ exercise mentioned below. This works for all ages and adults.

Over Winter break this year, as I prepared my online course, 2D Design and Abstraction, I read a classic in the field of 2D Design and composition —- Point and Line to Plane by Wassily Kandinsky. The book provides a fantastic entry point into deeper ways of thinking about painting and drawing. It’s not just a book for artists or art educators. I would recommend it to any educator whose students are interested in art or music.

Simply put, Kandinsky (born 1866 in Moscow) had originally intended to be a lawyer, but in his 30s, decided to study painting. He went on to become a teacher and prolific painter, and describes an approach to painting that is less about representation and more about creating something transcendent, or even divine. Part of what excited me most about Kandinsky’s writing is that I feel he approaches painting in an authentic and honest way—-something I strive for in my own paintings. I, too, want to evoke something intimate, something difficult or impossible to describe or decipher. I want to reflect existence itself, and all its mystery, so that my art is everything and nothing at once. Art, to me, is about freedom and the limitless expanse of what can be experienced, visually or otherwise.

Kandinsky posits a scientific or objective way of looking at art, insisting that it can be broken down into abstract concepts. He resents critics who do not see visual art as scientific, despite the fact that other art forms like architecture and music are understood as being rooted in science. The atomic lens through which he views visual elements is refreshing to a beginner, who does not need to concern themselves with the elaborate just yet. This is something I will stress with my students from now on — within the simplest elements lie the essential and the eternal. I like teaching beginner students to break things down, simplify and really get to know the basics inside and out before moving forward to more complex tasks in the studio.

Your students can explore spatial relationships with this exercise, which calls for three distinct compositions using the same two circles of the same size.

The meat of the text begins with a discussion of the point, which he describes as a ‘proto-element,’ meaning an original or primitive concept. This is a great place to start with 2D Design, Drawing or Painting students when practicing composition. Have them think of their sketches abstractly, and let them know that we won’t necessarily use their concepts right away. Instead, the work they do in mapping out a composition will help them hone the skills they will later use in their painting, photography, graphic design, typography, printmaking, or even architecture and sculpture. Kandinsky’s characterization of 2D Design as ‘a scientific research of art’ helps students understand how the concepts we are learning will be tested and used at a later date, possibly even after our course has concluded.

I would even quiz students on this after the first class, since it is common that 2D Design students are a bit confused about the purpose of the class (they often sign up for 2DD thinking it is a drawing or painting class). Ask them to complete a short survey online where they describe the purpose of the class. Your model ‘correct’ response could be: In this class, we will study foundational theory of art and learn a scientific way of using basic elements and principles that can be tested when we employ them in our future artwork.

The point is, of course, an abstract concept. It has no mass, takes up no space. But that does not mean it does not exist! It is the smallest possible expression of space, and in that lies its power. In Kandinsky’s words, ‘considered in terms of substance, it equals zero...the highest degree of restraint, which, nevertheless, speaks.’ What strikes me about the point is that it almost isn’t—-it barely exists. It is a unit that is brief, and quiet.

And because the point exists, we must consider how the point relates to the rest of the composition in terms of relative size. He makes a lovely analogy between painting and music, with all points, and all spaces surrounding all points, can be aligned with a sound, and how those sounds need to work together to establish rhythm. This is beautiful to me, and I think it will be an a-ha moment for your students. Of course! All elements in an artwork are like sounds in a melody. They all need to work together to communicate something, a song, a feeling. The sounds repeat and accumulate until a beat is established. Each action is cumulative, to be experienced within the context of the already established beats. That’s what makes it a song, or an artwork—-it’s the sum of all of the elements. Check out the section of the text where Kandinsky visualizes Beethoven’s 5th Symphony as dots of varying sizes. Your musically-inclined students will appreciate this and it will clarify the concept. You might also try having them physically move around small paper circles of varying sizes and try it for themselves with their favorite song as an in-class exercise. I will try this with my undergraduate 2D Design students, and possibly even with my community college Art History students. It is relatable, highly engaging and easy to understand. I suspect it is one of those experiences students will remember about your class.

In my studio, I made this stop-motion animation in clay to visualize ‘Happy Birthday.’ I am excited to try this with my undergrads.

Kandinsky’s discussion of line leaves plenty of room for imagination and exploration. He writes about how the element of movement in art can be better described as tension, and describes how a line might curve and bend when different forces are applied to it. This lends itself well to classroom explorations. Imagine your kindergarteners dangling 3 inch bits of yarn from their fingers (forming a nice vertical line), then having them blow on the string to change its shape. Your college students can also learn a lot from a similar exercise (photo above), where they take bits of yarn and move them about until they take on curved shapes. These exercises are meant to be exploratory and ephemeral, so your students can simply put their yarn away once they’ve explored, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take photographs to document and archive your work on a class blog or social media, as a learning artifact.

Kandinsky argues that a vertical or horizontal line is not quite descriptive of a plane, until it becomes curved. The curve of a line alludes to greater depth and space. Ask your students to try it out by sketching some samples of different kinds of lines, and see what they think. I suspect this will generate a great deal of discussion and will be a motivation for students to explore even more.

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Soon I will make a separate post about plane.

In the meantime, read this book if you wish to deepen your understanding of how foundational elements function in a 2D artwork. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know how it goes in your classroom.

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