"Santa Trinità" by Masaccio, Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Quadrilaterals (rectangle)

Description: Masaccio's 'Trinity' began the Renaissance, the first time that realism was expressed since classical antiquity. It was composed as a Trompe-l'œil: an illusionary chapel to be viewed specifically from this point - the original entrance to the lower church in Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. The constraining rectangular form with its restricted formal viewing point is essential to the success of Masaccio's use of perspective.

Title: Worshipper's view

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concept: Quadrilaterals (rectangle); Filling the frame (filling for presence); Frames within frames (enhancing perspective)

Description: (Close-up from the same position using the optical zoom function) Filling the frame to remove Trinity's grey surround increases its impact and enhances Masaccio's intended feeling of believable space.in which the humanity of the Father, Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saint John is portrayed.

Title: Volume

03.10 Quadrilaterals - symmetrical and asymmetrical

Rectangles and their perfect forms, squares, are easily found as literal forms in man-made environments. They are highly unusual, implied or literal, in the natural world.

Just as ellipses have a special relationship with circles, where ellipses are commonly interpreted as circles viewed at an angle not perpendicular to their plane; so do members in the group of symmetrical quadrilaterals.

Rectangles (including squares)
These are only seen as such when viewed along the central axis: a line passing through the exact centre of the shape running perpendicular to its plane.

Parallelograms
These are observed when rectangles are viewed on a perpendicular plane passing through the diagonal corners.

Trapezoids
These are observed when rectangles are viewed on a perpendicular plane bisecting two opposite sides.

Asymmetric quadrilaterals
These are seen when rectangles are viewed along axes not passing through a point of symmetry. They would likely be resolved as two triangles.

Thus not only are the points of a rectangle highly constrained in composition, but the angle of its viewing is too. Precision is of utmost importance when taking an image of a rectangle, as misalignments with the image frame are glaringly obvious. As a possible consequence of the due care required, deployment of rectangular elements lend a sense of formality, of controlled structure; and slightly less so with trapezoids and parallelograms.

Jean-Michel Folon's 'Partir' (2002), Giardino delle Rose, Oltrarno, Florence

Photograph Copyright ©2013 Loo Yen Yeo. All Rights Reserved.

Concepts: Frames within frames (enhancing perspective); Quadrilaterals (rectangle)

Description: Jean-Michel Folon's 'Partir' (2002) in the Garden of Roses was specifically created to frame a view. But what changes elevates this above cliché, is that we are witnessing the relationship a viewer (the young lady) has with a work of art. The outer frame in portrait orientation creates steep diagonals with the landscape-orientated briefcase and base, giving a stronger feeling of depth. The slightly formal feel to this composition is because there is only one axis along which the installation can be seen as a true rectangle.

Title: It's A Perfect Day