I went to an art show.

“Yes, but what of it?” you ask.

Well, it is the topic of today’s vocabulary lesson. In other words, a collision of computer programming and art terms. An unholy alliance. A trainwreck.

First, let’s have some vocabulary review:

Object-oriented: a system is modeled as a set of objects that can be controlled in a modular manner

Gestalt: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

So if we have the following sentence in an artistic statement: “Unlike most artists who strive for object-oriented realism, I work in abstract forms…”, we know this statement is BS.

When we talk of “composition” in a work of art, we talk about how the piece is structured. That is, how the whole is greater than a sum of its parts.

Realistic art is not modular. It is not object-oriented. It is gestalt.

“Yes, but who cares?” you ask.

“Me!” I howl in reply.