On the opposite end of complex systems lies the ultimate clarification of form. Cubists, led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, were the first to deconstruct visuals into pieces of elements, ranges of perspectives and details, mixed and arranged according to the artist’s choosing. Suprematists took such “destruction of object” even further by using non-objective, geometrical and graphic shapes, to create an interaction of pure forms. Kazimir Malevich¹⁶ claimed that such constructions could not be misunderstood, as they relied solely on the most basic dynamics and principles of the universe.

A large amount of dynamics between elements can be interpreted through our own movement in space or towards others. Depending on how we interpret distance and directionality, we can perceive objects as repelling or drawn to each other. Similarly, we understand closeness, alarm, invasion, agitation and balance as a quality independent of the object. El Lissitzky¹⁷, among others from the Suprematism movement, also focused on the idea of motion, but unlike impressionists and futurists, who focused on depicting the aftermath of movement, suprematists focused on the unreleased potential contained within the form, calling it “dynamism" — a tension created by the forms in the composition.

Composition is not only about the relationship between forms but also about the space around them. In order to create a design or an artwork, the artist needs to consider all the elements, even ones that we do not see. Details that make up the backdrop may have an even greater effect than those we pay active attention to. The faintest smells, sounds and sensations, though unacknowledged, can make a subconscious mark on the whole experience of space. It took me three months on a small island to notice the absence of a certain noise — the sounds of streets, rumble of cars passing by, the echo of the highway in the distance. It had been so integral to my everyday environment that I had never observed it until it was removed completely from my senses. Noticing it at last defined the source of unease I had felt for some time.