Symmetry And Asymmetry In Cubism

Lastly, during the time of Cubism, geometry was not used to create depth and a sense of perspective, but was used to get rid of the more traditional sense of perspective that has been used for decades before Cubism. Geometric shapes were used in Cubism to be able to flatten the subject matter, by still giving the subject a sense of three-dimensionality by combining pieces of the subject from different angles therefore creating a three-dimensional look without using methods such as one-point perspective.

Balance

Another vital element in design and the visual arts is composition as well as symmetry and asymmetry. Both symmetry and asymmetry help create balance in artwork created by many artists. Symmetry is defined “as the property of being symmetrical; especially : correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or median plane or about a center or axis”. There are different ways objects can be mirrored which this essay is going to analysed below.

Bilateral symmetry

Bilateral symmetry is the most commonly used type of symmetry by artists and by people in their everyday life which is why most people just call bilateral symmetry "symmetry". Bilateral symmetry is when an image is mirrored along one single line of symmetry.

Figure 12:

This is the most commonly used picture to describe bilateral symmetry. As one can clearly see, the butterfly can be split up