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The laws of composition

Lessons 6 · 1 lessons · O. A. Qo‘ysinov, O‘. O. Tohirov, D. N. Mamatov, D. F. Aripova. Labour education (Mehnat ta’limi), Grade 9: methodical guide for teachers. Delta-Print, Tashkent, 2017. Note: this is a teacher’s guide, not a student textbook (lesson plans for the “Technology and design”, “Service” and “Basics of agriculture” directions). The course is built from the lesson-plan topics of the “Technology and design” direction; the “Iroqi” skullcap lesson comes from the “Service” direction, and lesson 25 (joining parts) is written from the topic listed in the guide’s calendar plan.
6

Compositional wholeness and the laws of composition

Teacher’s guide: pp. 21–22
GoalKnow composition and its basic laws; be able to analyse an item from the point of view of compositional wholeness.
New words
composition · kompozitsiyalaw of wholeness · yaxlitlik qonunicontrast · kontrastconstructive idea · konstruktiv g‘oya
Explanation

“Composition” comes from the Latin compositio, meaning “putting together, arranging, creating”. Composition is the order in which the parts of an item or work are arranged for a certain purpose. Its basic laws are: the law of wholeness, the law of contrasts, the law of typicality (creating something new), and the law that all means of composition are subordinate to the idea of the work. By the law of wholeness all elements and parts unite around one constructive idea, that is, every part of the item serves the common purpose. Contrast is the way opposite qualities (large and small, light and dark, smooth and carved) emphasise one another and make the item lively, but it is used in moderation. A student who knows the laws of composition can creatively analyse the structure and the making sequence of any item; these laws are closely tied to the idea of beauty, that is, to aesthetics.

Worked examples
A plate: a large flower in the centre, small leaves around it. Large and small elements form a contrast, and all decoration follows the plate’s shape: wholeness is kept.
If you want to make a bookshelf in the workshop, the constructive idea is “light, strong, compact”. Material, size and decoration are chosen to fit this idea, and no extra decoration is added.
Class activity

Analysis table: for a picture of a chosen item (skullcap, plate or box) fill in a table by the four laws: where is the wholeness, where the contrast, what is new, what is subordinate to the idea.

Practice
1
From which language does the word composition come and what does it mean?
2
State the four basic laws of composition.
3
A single carved lid is put on a box with smooth sides. Which law can this illustrate?
4
Why does adding more decoration not always improve an item?