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Motif (visual arts)

Motif (visual arts)

Wallpaper group

For other uses, see Motif (disambiguation).
Plant motif, Taj Mahal

In art, a motif About this sound (pronunciation) (help·info) is an element of a pattern, an image or part of one, or a theme. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works. Ornamental or decorative art can usually be analysed into a number of different elements, which can be called motifs. These may often, as in textile art be repeated many times in patterns. Important examples in Western art include acanthus, egg and dart, and various types of scrolls.

Many designs in mosques in Islamic culture are motifs, including those of the sun, moon, animals such as horses and lions, flowers, and landscapes. Motifs can have emotional effects and be used for propaganda.[1]

Contents

Film

Visual motifs are used in film to establish a mood, such as film noir.[2][3] Blade Runner is a science fiction film that uses visual motifs effectively; director Ridley Scott used a birthing motif in a previous film Alien.[4]

Patterns

  • The Grammar of Ornament Egyptian No 7 (plate 10), image #20
  • Illustration from The Grammar of Ornament (1856)
  • Motif in lace

  • A Persian motif on textile

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Motifs in Jihadi Internet Propaganda (PDF)
  2. ^ (2004) Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir By Alain Silver and James Ursini ISBN 0879101970
  3. ^ (1974) Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir by Janey Place & Lowell Peterson
  4. ^ Blade Runner

Further reading

  • Hoffman, Richard. Docorative Flower and Leaf Designs. Dover Publications (1991), ISBN 0486268691
  • Jones, Owen. The Grammar of Ornament. Dover Publications, Revised edition (1987), ISBN 0486254631

External links



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