Contrast and Balance: Common Components of Good Art, Writing, Music and Food.

Art makes life better.

Often people will ask when considering an image in a gallery or museum, "Yes, but what makes it art?"

When I look at an image often the first thing I respond to is the composition. If the image has balance, harmony and contrast – principles that help create a strong composition, then it's meeting my first criteria. Contrasts in light and dark, rough and smooth married with good balance in tonality, color and (positive and negative) space... areas of visual interest and intensity bridged by areas of visual rest or calmness. All of this, working in concert to create a captivating visual experience. And if it makes me feel something, then in my mind, yes, it IS art.

What I find interesting is these same principles are what make good writing, good music and good food experiences too.

Good writing has contrast and balance between characters or situations within the storyline. Often this is provided by the antagonist(rough) and protagonist(smooth). There's a flow that carries you through the slower paced setup and the more intense, page-turning passages of the story and if it's all done well, it makes you feel something. Usually it's a reading experience that, by the last page, you feel moved by and disappointed by but only because it's over.

Good music relies on these same concepts. Contrast and balance, in tempo, whether it's a song that starts at a slow pace and builds to a crescendo or something that incorporates multiple time signatures played simultaneously. The tonal quality or texture; Warm round tones playing against thinner bright sounds. And the tonal range; Higher notes work like bright highlights contrasted by a lower register as deeper shadows. If it all comes together with harmony and balance it's very likely it too will make you feel something.

And finally, good food. The best chefs master these same principles when composing a meal. When ingredients are brought together using contrast and balance between food textures, and tastes: salty, sour, bitter, sweet (and sometimes umami) as well as hot and cold, along with skillful execution, the food becomes art. Of course in this case the visual presentation plays a big roll too and that brings us back to what makes an image strong.

These are the things that (I feel) make art an essential element in a good life.