Third Element

A third element, a recognizable object, works as the link between form and color, allowing the viewer to move beyond abstraction and rediscover reality within the image.

In this example, a single, continuous camera movement separates the image into color and form. They exist apart, and it is through this third element — a sign of reality — that perception brings them together.

The zebra crossing becomes that third element: it preserves the work’s link to the world and connects abstraction with the urban environment, with a well-known view of Helsinki.