Watching television for two hours straight is not something I partake in on a usual basis, but it was interesting to see the elements and principles of design used in the programs and commercials to attract the viewers. I decided to watch a sitcom program, “Seinfeld”, which is nearly the greatest television show in the history of television. During this television show I noticed a lot of use of mass and form and rhythm on the buildings and other things that were shown during the television show. The show takes place in the heart of New York City so during the show; you can see much of the architecture and art that surrounds the big apple. I also see lots of texture on some of the clothing that is depicted on the actors and actresses in the comedy show. Obviously it wasn’t just the program I was watching, I unfortunately had to sit through some pretty boring and irrelevant commercials, but it was intriguing to see all the use of the elements and principles of design in order to promote the product the company is advertising. During the commercials, I definitely found it to be more colorful and more usage of shape than the television program. In order to be able to successfully market the specific product or business in commercials, one needs to make the advertisement attractive, non-controversial, and informational. I believe that I also saw many commercials involving balance and proportion. In order for a commercial to be not all crazy and well done, it should have some balance involved in the images the advertisement is showing because that creates a sense of calmness and it also reminds the viewer that the company producing the advertisement is not trying to badger you in to purchasing their product or service. I think the values being demonstrated in this particular television show are friendship and being an overall happy person. I believe the use of warm colors and the use of space depicts these values and feelings extremely well. Warm colors are supposed to brighten and lighten the mood of the viewer looking at the image and there are lots of warm colors within the clothes and surroundings in the show “Seinfeld”. Also the use of space can demonstrate many different meanings. For instance, in the television show if two people are very spread apart and it looks like a lot of space is being taken up by the connection of the people then they are probably not very happy with each other or not in the greatest mood. Overall the use of elements and principles of design within the comedy show, “Seinfeld”, demonstrates many different relationships and connections between others. I believe that the main themes the television show is promoting are to be a genuine friend and to be an overall happy person throughout life. The elements and principles of design do a great job of clarifying these themes.

Part II:
For this discussion assignment, I have chosen to view and interpret Mark Rothko’s No. 8 (White Stripe). This piece is an oil painting on canvas and it was created in 1950. No. 8 (White Stripe) is displayed at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art here on campus. I was immediately drawn to this visual art piece and its bold simplicity. Aesthetically, this painting is quite simplistic. The painting is done on a large, square canvas. The entire background of the painting is composed of a red paint color. On top of the red background, there is a darker red rectangle on the top, a medium shade of red rectangle on the bottom, and a white stripe through the middle of these two rectangles. The edges of all three shapes are somewhat blurred. Visually, that is all that is present within this art piece. One of the primary elements and principles of design used in this piece is line, through the presence of the white stripe across the center of the painting. The use of geometric shapes constitute the rectangles and line in the piece. The texture of the painting is soft and blurred. Value is utilized through the different shades of red, and this use of value shows contrast between the different colors of red that are utilized. In the midst of all of the wildly intricate art pieces at the JSMA, this specific art piece provided me with a sense of clarity and understanding. The piece is so simple, and it didn’t crowd my mind with thoughts like the majority of the other art pieces in the museum. Beyond the solace I found in this painting, my initial interpretation of this piece is kind of random. I initially thought that this painting was the famous equal sign symbol that represents the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign uses an equal sign to represent the equitable treatment of individuals that identify under and LGBTQIA+ identity. In all honesty, the painting reminded me of the red equal sign cover people were putting over their profile photos last Spring, before the Supreme Court ruling regarding marriage equality. Not only did this painting look like the Human Rights Campaign equal sign symbol, but there just happened to be another sculpture in front of the painting that said ‘LOVE.’ The presence of this sculpture might have influenced my interpretation of No. 8 (White Stripe), because I was thinking about love and equity. When I read the description of the painting, I was surprised to see that it was painted in 1958. At this point, I figured that it had nothing to do with marriage equality or the Human Rights Campaign. From here, I was ready to look up the artist and their own perspective regarding this painting. Mark Rothko painted this piece in 1958. A quick review of Rothko’s background exposes that he is an American painter of Russian and Jewish decent. I looked at some of Rothko’s other paintings and found that the majority of them were of a similar nature as No. 8 (White Stripe). Rothko seems to have mastered the use of bright, simplistic colors and lines through the creation of his paintings. After searching for a while, I honestly found very little information regarding No. 8 (White Stripe). I did, however, find that Rothko was a part of the modernist movement. Also, I found out that this painting is worth over 8 million dollars (woah). Seeing as this painting is so valuable, I expected to find more information about it. I’m surprised that there isn’t a lot to be said online. The one piece of information I found regarding Rothko’s modernist creation of No. 8 (White Stripe), is that he apparently sought to reject naturalism through his work. When going back and looking at this painting after hearing the artist’s interpretation of it, I do see the painting differently. It exists in stark contrast to naturalist paintings, because it is so stark and simplistic. I wonder why Rothko felt such attachments to the modernist movement and the rejection of naturalism. I cannot necessarily compare my new findings to my original interpretation of the Human Rights Campaign symbol. I can, however, compare my initial interpretation of clarity to the author’s original intent of this piece. Modernist, anti-naturalism pieces might have cultivated a sense of clarity within Rothko, due to the simplistic nature of the pieces.