exercise 01

1. Exercise 1
• Think about the issue of the essence of an object, a body, or a face.
• Suppose there is a certain essence just as this is described ontologically, that is, a certain element or
elements exist without which a thing could not be what it is but it would be something else.
• Could we transfer this idea to a pictorial level and talk about “pictorial essence”? That is, about a way of
representing that could capture the one or two most significant elements from a visual or other sensorial
aspect which could convey to us the sense of the thing? Choose something to observe. It could be an
object, natural or man-made or a work of art. What would you say that its pictorial essence might be?
• Now try to represent it in an abstract manner. In which medium could this be represented better or more
suitably? Is its pictorial nature mainly linear, or rather curvilinear? Is the chiaroscuro playing a preeminent
role , or is perhaps emerging mainly through its color, its plastic form or is it perhaps becoming more
intensely sensed through its set of textures?
• May, what we see in it, be represented through a series of words or movements? A cluster of sounds?
Once you decide represent it using that element which suits better, in your opinion, the pictorial character
you detected in it.