"The Thinking Eye"

As I began to read the article, I found myself having to go back to reread each sentence because I could not grab the essence of what Klee was trying to convey. His thoughts seemed incoherent and I was unclear of the meaning of each term he referred to. I must admit that I still do not fully understand what he means in the beginning of the article, but as I continued to read, his thoughts seemed to come together in a more organized manner. I found it very interesting how Klee was able to give so much information about a line. As a person with absolutely no artistic background, it has never occurred to me to think of a line as more than merely just a line. He gave it life by using the words free and active to describe the line’s different forms. He also made the line relatable, especially when he explained that connecting the dots is more like making a series of appointments than taking a walk. This was interesting because it made me think that when connecting the dots, one must stop at each point to be precise, one cannot just go through as if they are walking.  

The section in which he wrote about the progression of children’s artwork is intriguing because he explains as children mature, they begin to find order in their drawings instead of just chaotically moving their crayon. We begin to color in the lines instead of all over the page as we age and progress from those primitive stages of drawing and writing.

Dot Matrix:

I enjoyed the dot matrix activity we did in class because it was a way of activity combining music and drawing together. It was interesting to see how differently each person in the class interpreted the sound onto their paper because no two were alike. As I was making my dots, I found it slightly difficult to convey the shift in rhythm. I wanted to showcase each beat of the song by spacing them out or clumping them together according to the rate and making the dots larger as the sound increase, but it was difficult to do that while trying to keep up with the pace of song. I wanted the piece to look perfect but I soon realized that would be impossible and I had to just go with the flow of the music. Once we were told to add lines, I saw the piece become more a chaotic since there is less control and more room for error when adding that element.

This class exercise closely relates to what Klee is conveying in “The Thinking Eye.” After listening to comments students had on their pieces after we finished the activity, there was a common theme of wanting to find order within their drawing. Most agreed they believed to have ruined their drawing once they used lines since it created more chaos. I believe this exercise was a way to go back to our primitive form of drawing.