Motif (visual arts)
Cave ceiling motif before entrance, India]]
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In art, a motif is a repeated idea, pattern, image, or theme. Visual motifs are a language to communicate visual ideas. Paisley designs are referred to as motifs. 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. Motifs in Jihadi Internet Propaganda (PDF) Motifs may have iconographic significance within a work of art.
Visual motifs can also be used to organize material for presentation. For example, Subhankar Banerjee used the visual motifs of color, aminals (birds, caribou, whales fish) and substance harvesting practice he calls "bent posture". He says that the political impact of the images influenced his choices. Three Conceptual Visual Motifs by Subhankar Banerjee, retrieved 2010-02-29 (PDF) Document view
Film
Visual motifs are used in film to establish a mood, such as film noir. (2004) Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir By Alain Silver and James Ursini ISBN 0879101970(1974) Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir by Janey Place & Lowell Peterson Blade Runner is a science fiction film that uses visual motifs effectively; director Ridley Scott used a birthing motif in a previous film Alien. Blade RunnerPatterns
Image:Wallpaper group-p2-3.jpg| The Grammar of Ornament Egyptian No 7 (plate 10), image #20 Image:Wallpaper group-p6m-1.jpg|Illustration from The Grammar of Ornament (1856) File:Tønder motif.png|Motif in lace File:Boteh tissu.jpg|A Persian motif on textileSee also
Notes
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