Harvard Psychological Studies Part 59

says: "There are people who show a decided impulse for the direct imitation of nature, and especially for the representation of events of daily life, as dancing, hunting, fishing, etc. It is, however, remarkable that a real system of ornamentation is scarcely ever developed from pictorial representations of this kind; that, in fact, the people who carry out these copies of everyday scenes with especial preference, are in general less given to covering their utensils with a rich ornamentive decoration."[11] Drawing and ornament, as the products of different tendencies, may therefore be considered separately.

[8] Mallery, Garrick: 'Pictographs of the North American Indians,' Rep. of Bur. of Ethnol., 1882-3, p. 13.

[9] Von den Steinen, Karl: 'Unter den Naturvolkern Zentral-Brasiliens,' Berlin, 1894.

[10] _Internal. Archiv s. Ethnog._, Bd. IX.

[11] Cf. Andree, Richard: 'Ethnographische Parallelen,' Neue Folge, Leipzig, 1889, S. 59.

The reason for the divergence of drawing and ornament is doubtless the original motive of ornamentation, which is found in the clan or totem ideas. Either to invoke protection or to mark ownership, the totem symbol appears on all instruments and utensils; it has been shown, indeed, that practically all primitive ornament is based on totemic motives.[12] Now, since a very slight suggestion of the totem given by its recognized symbol is sufficient for the initiated, the extreme of conventionalization and degradation of patterns is allowable, and is observed to take place. The important point to be noted in this connection is, however, that all these changes are toward symmetry.

The most striking examples might be indefinitely multiplied, and are to be found in the appended references (see Figs. 8 and 9).

[12] Haddon, _op. cit._; Frazer, J.G.: 'Totemism,' 1887; Grosse, Ernst: Anfange der Kunst,' Freiburg i. B. u. Leipzig, 1894.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 5.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 6.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7.]

We may distinguish here, also, between the gradual disintegration and degradation of pattern toward symmetry, as seen in the examples just given, and the deliberate distortion of figures for a special purpose.

This is strikingly shown in the decorative art of the Indians of the North Pacific coast. They systematically represent their totem animals--their only decorative motives--as split in symmetrical sections, and opened out flat on the surface which is to be covered[13] (see Fig. 11). Dr. Boas argues that their purpose is to get in all the received symbols, or to show the whole animal, but, however this may be, every variation introduces symmetry even where it is difficult to do so, as in the case, for instance, of bracelets, hat-brims, etc. (Fig. 10). This may in some cases be due to the symmetrical suggestions of the human body in tattooing,[14] but it must be so in comparatively few.

[13] Boas, Franz: 'Decorative Art of the Indians of the North Pacific Coast,' _Bulletin_ of Am. Mus. of Nat. Hist., Vol. IX.

[14] Mallery, G.: _op. cit._; Haddon, A.C.: _op. cit._, p. 257; 'Decorative Art of British New Guinea,' Cunningham Memoir X., Royal Irish Acad., 1894, p. 26.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 9.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 10]

The primitive picture has for its object not only to impart information, but to excite the very definite pleasure of recognition of a known object. All explorers agree in their accounts of the savage's delight in his own nave efforts at picture making. All such drawings show in varying degrees the same characteristics; first of all, an entire lack of symmetry. In a really great number of examples, including drawings and picture-writing from all over the world, I have not found one which showed an attempt at symmetrical arrangement.

Secondly, great life and movement, particularly in the drawings of animals. Thirdly, an emphasis of the typical characteristics, the logical marks, amounting sometimes to caricature. The primitive man draws to tell a story, as children do. He gives with real power what interests him, and puts in what he knows ought to be there, even if it is not seen, but he is so engrossed by his interest in the imitated object as to neglect entirely its relation to a background.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11]

Now, this very ant.i.thesis of ornament and picture is enlightening as to the dawn of aesthetic feeling, and the strongest confirmation of our hypothesis of an original impulse to symmetry in art. In the ornamentation of objects the content or meaning of the design is already supplied by the merest hint of the symbol which is the practical motive of all ornamentation. The savage artist need, therefore, concern himself no more about it, and the form of his design is free to take whatever shape is demanded either by the conditions of technique and the surface to be ornamented, or by the natural aesthetic impulse. We have found that technical conditions account for only a small part of the observed symmetry in pattern, and the inference to a natural tendency to symmetry is clear. Pictorial representation, on the other hand, is enjoyed by the primitive man merely as an imitation, of which he can say, 'This is that animal'--to paraphrase Aristotle's Poetics. He is thus constrained to reproduce the form as it shows meaning, and to ignore it as form, or as his natural motor impulses would make it.

To sum up the conclusions reached by this short survey of the field of primitive art, it is clear that much of the symmetry appearing in primitive art is due (1) to the conditions of construction, as in the form of dwellings, binding-patterns, weaving and textile patterns generally; (2) to convenience in use, as in the shapes of spears, arrows, knives, two-handled baskets and jars; (3) to the imitation of animal forms, as in the shapes of pottery, etc. On the other hand (1) a very great deal of symmetrical ornament maintains itself _against_ the suggestions of the shape to which it is applied, as the ornaments of baskets, pottery, and all rounded objects; and (2) all distortion, disintegration, degradation of pattern-motives, often so marked as all but to destroy their meaning, is in the direction of geometrical symmetry. In short it is impossible to account for more than a small part of the marked symmetry of primitive art by non-aesthetic influences, and we are therefore forced to conclude an original tendency to create symmetry, and to take pleasure in it. A strong negative confirmation of this is given, as noted above, by the utter lack of symmetry of the only branch of art in which the primitive man is fully preoccupied with meaning to the neglect of shape; and by the contrast of this with those branches of art in which attention to meaning is at its minimum.

The question put at the beginning of this section must thus be answered affirmatively. There is evidence of an original aesthetic pleasure in symmetry.

III. EXPERIMENTS IN SUBSt.i.tUTIONAL SYMMETRY.

_A. Method of Experiment._

A certain degree of original aesthetic pleasure in symmetry may be considered to have been established by the preceding section, and, without considering further the problems of real or geometrical symmetry, it may now be asked whether the pleasure aroused by the form of asymmetrical objects is not at bottom also pleasure in symmetry; whether, in other words, a kind of subst.i.tution of factors does not obtain in such objects, which brings about a psychological state similar to that produced by real symmetry.

The question what these subst.i.tuted factors may be can perhaps be approached by a glance at a few pictures which are accepted as beautiful in form, although not geometrically symmetrical. Let us take, for instance, several simple pictures from among the well-known altar-pieces, all representing the same subject, the _Madonna Enthroned_ with _Infant Christ_, and all of generally symmetrical outline. It seems, then, reasonable to a.s.sume that if the variations from symmetry show constantly recurring tendencies, they represent the chief factors in such a subst.i.tutional symmetry or balance, supposing it to exist. The following pictures are thus treated in detail, M.

denoting Madonna; C., Child; and Cn., Central Line. The numbers refer to the collection of reproductions used exclusively in this investigation, and further described in section IV.

1. 56, Martin Schongauer: _Madonna in Rose-arbor._ M. is seated exactly in Cn., C. on Right, turning to Right. M. turns to Left, and her long hair and draperies form one long unbroken line down to Left lower corner. All other details symmetrical.

2. 867, t.i.tian: _Madonna_. The picture is wider than it is high. M.

stands slightly to Right of Cn.; C. on Right. Both turn slightly to Left, and the drapery of M. makes a long sweep to Left. Also a deep perspective occupies the whole Left field.

3. 248, Raphael: _Madonna_ (The Bridgewater Madonna). M. sits in Cn., turning to Left; C. lies across her lap, head to Left, but his face turned up to Right, and all the lines of his body tending sharply down to Right.

In 1, all the elements of the picture are symmetrical except the position of C. on the Right, and the long flowing line to Left. In 2, there is a slightly greater variation. The ma.s.s of the figures is to Right, and the C. entirely over against the deep perspective and the flowing line on the Left, and the direction of both faces toward that side. In 3, the greater part of C.'s figure on Left is opposed by the direction of his lines and movement to Right. Thus these three pictures, whether or not they are considered as presenting a balance, at least show several well-defined factors which detach themselves from the general symmetrical scheme. (1) Interest in C. is opposed by outward-pointing line; (2) greater ma.s.s, by outward-pointing line, deep vista, and direction of attention; and (3) again interest by direction of line and suggestion of movement.

This a.n.a.lysis of several aesthetically pleasing but asymmetrical arrangements of s.p.a.ce strongly suggests that the elements of large size, deep perspective, suggested movement, and intrinsic interest are in some way equivalent in their power to arouse those motor impulses which we believe to const.i.tute the basis of aesthetic response. It is the purpose of these experiments to follow up the lines of these suggestions, reducing them to their simplest forms and studying them under exact conditions.

But before describing the instruments and methods of this experimental treatment, I wish to speak of the articles on the 'aesthetics of Simple Form,' published as Studies from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory, by Dr. Edgar Pierce.[15] These articles, sub-ent.i.tled 'Symmetry' and 'The Functions of the Elements' seem at first sight to antic.i.p.ate the discussions of this paper; but a short a.n.a.lysis shows that while they point in the same direction, they nevertheless deal with quite different questions and in a different manner. In the statement of his problem, indeed, Dr. Pierce is apparently treading the same path.

[15] Pierce E.: PSYCH. REV., 1894, I., p. 483; 1896, III., p.

270.

He says: "Can a feeling of symmetry, that is, of aesthetical equality of the two halves, remain where the two sides are not geometrically identical; and if so, what are the conditions under which this can result--what variations of one side seem aesthetically equal to the variations of the other side?" Some preliminary experiments resulted in the conclusion that an unsymmetrical and yet pleasing arrangement of a varied content rests on the pleasure in unity, thus shutting out the Golden Section choice, which depends on the pleasure in variety.

That is, the choices made will not in general follow the golden section, but 'when the figure consists of two halves, the pleasure must be a feeling of aesthetical symmetry.'

The final experiments were arrangements of lines and simple figures on a square, black background in which the center was marked by a white vertical line with a blue or a red line on each side. On one side of these central lines a line was fixed; and the subject had to place on the other side lines and simple figures of different sizes and different colors, so as to balance the fixed line. The results showed that lines of greater length, or figures of greater area must be put nearer the center than shorter or smaller ones--'A short line must be farther than a long one, a narrow farther than a wide, a line farther than a square; an empty interval must be larger than one filled, and so on.' And for colors, "blue, maroon and green, the dark colors, are the farthest out; white, red and orange, the bright colors, are nearest the center. This means that a dark color must be farther out than a bright one to compensate for a form on the other side. The brightness of an object is then a constant subst.i.tute for its distance in satisfying our feeling of symmetry."

Now from these conclusions two things are clear. By his extremely emphasized central line, and his explicit question to the subjects, 'Does this balance?' the author has excluded any other point of view than that of mechanical balance. His central fulcrum is quite overpowering. Secondly, his inquiry has dealt only with size and color, leaving the questions of interest, movement, and perspective untouched. But just the purpose of this experimental study is to seek for the different and possibly conflicting tendencies in composition, and to approximate to the conditions given in pictorial art. It is evident, I think, that the two studies on symmetry will not trespa.s.s on each other's territory. The second paper of Dr. Pierce, on 'The Functions of the Elements,' deals entirely with the relation of horizontal and vertical positions of the aesthetic object and of the subject to aesthetic judgments, and has therefore no bearing on this paper.

For his apparatus Dr. Pierce used a surface of black cloth stretched over black rubber, 1 m. square. Now an investigation which is to deal with complicated and varied relations, resembling those of pictures, demands an instrument resembling them also in the shape of the background. A rectangle 600 mm. broad by 400 mm. high seemed to meet this requirement better than the square of Dr. Pierce. Other parts, also, of his instrument seemed unfitted for our purpose. The tin, 5 cm. broad and confined to the slits across the center of the square, gave not enough opportunity for movement in a vertical direction, while the scale at the back was very inconvenient for reading. To supply these lacks, a scale graduated in millimeters was attached on the lower edge of the board, between a double track in which ran slides, the positions of which could be read on the scale. To the slides were attached long strips of tin covered with black cloth. On these strips figures glued to small clamps or clasps could be slipped up or down; this arrangement of coordinates made it possible to place a figure in any spot of the whole surface without bringing the hands into the field of view. The experiments were made in a dark room, in which the apparatus was lighted by an electric globe veiled by white paper and hung above and behind the head of the subject, so as not to be seen by him and to cast no shadow: in this soft light of course the black movable strips disappeared against the black background. A gray paper frame an inch and a half wide was fitted to the black rectangle to throw it up against the black depths of the dark room--thus giving in all details the background of a picture to be composed.

The differences in method between the two sets of experiments were fundamental. In Dr. Pierce's experiments the figures were pulled from one side to the other of the half-square in question, and the subject was asked to stop them where he liked; in those of the writer the subject himself moved the slides back and forth until a position was found aesthetically satisfactory. The subject was never asked, Does this balance? He was indeed requested to abstract from the idea of balance, but to choose that position which was the most immediately pleasing for its own sake, and so far as possible detached from a.s.sociations.

I have said that Dr. Pierce intentionally accentuated the center. The conditions of pictorial composition suggest in general the center only by the rectangular frame. Most of my experiments were, therefore, made without any middle line; some were repeated with a middle line of fine white silk thread, for the purpose of ascertaining the effect of the enhanced suggestion of the middle line.

But the chief difference came in the different treatment of results.

Dr. Pierce took averages, whereas the present writer has interpreted individual results. Now, suppose that one tendency led the subject to place the slide at 50 and another to place it at 130 mm. from the center. The average of a large number of such choices would be 90--a position very probably disagreeable in every way. For such an investigation it was evident that interpretation of individual results was the only method possible, except where it could be conclusively shown that the subjects took one and only one point of view. They were always encouraged to make a second choice if they wished to do so, as it often happened that one would say: 'I like both of these ways very much.' Of course, individual testimony would be of the highest importance, and a general grouping into cla.s.ses and indication of the majority tendency would be the only way to treat the results statistically. And indeed in carrying out the experiments this caution was found absolutely necessary. In all but one or two of the sections, the taking of averages would have made the numerical results absolutely unintelligible. Only the careful study of the individual case, comparison of various experiments on the same person to find personal tendencies, and comparison of the different tendencies, could give valuable results for the theory of symmetry.

The first question to be taken up was the influence of right and left positions on choice. A long series of experiments was undertaken with a line 8010 mm. on one side and a line 16010 mm. on the other, in which the positions of these were reversed, and each in turn taken as fixed and variable, with a view to determining the effect of right and left positions. No definite conclusions emerged; and in the following experiments, most of which have been made for both right and left positions, the results will be treated as if made for one side alone, and, where averages are taken, will be considered as indifferently left or right.

The experiments of Dr. Pierce were made for only one position of the fixed line--at 12 cm. distance from the center. The characteristic of the following experiments is their reference to all positions of the fixed line. For instance a fixed line, 10 cm. in length at 12 cm.

distance from the center, might be balanced by a line 5 cm. in length at 20 cm. distance. But would the distance be in the same proportion for a given distance of the fixed line of say 20 or 25 cm.? It is clear that only a progressive series of positions of the fixed line would suggest the changes in points of view or tendencies of choice of the subject. Accordingly, for all the experiments the fixed line or other object was placed successively at distances of 20, 40, 60 mm., etc., from the center; or at 40, 80 mm., etc., according to the character of the object, and for each of these fixed points the subject made one or two choices. Only an understanding of the direction in which the variable series moved gave in many cases an explanation for the choice.

Each choice, it should be added, was itself the outcome of a long series of trials to find the most pleasing position. Thus, each subject made only about ten choices in an hour, each of which, as it appears in the tables, represents a large number of approximations.

_B. Experiments on Size._

I have said that different tendencies or types of choice in arrangement appeared. It will be convenient in the course of explaining in detail the method of experiment, to discuss at the same time the meaning of these types of choice.