The cross has been a very important part of western culture and art for thousands of years. Nowadays we can see artists and designers all over the world using it, in architecture, painting, sculpture, installation, photography… Though I don't have any religious background, I still can't deny the solemn spirit it has, and the aesthetic with simplicity.
One of the most impressive I have seen has to be the huge concrete columns in Jewish Museum Berlin. The cross only shows up when you stand in the middle of the monument and look up to the sky. Plants growing on the top of those giants, stretching the life into this scene. I stood there in the cold air of December for a very long time thinking of the past and history. That's an extremely aesthetic moment for me.
From Malevich's Suprematism to Fontana's Spatialism, the cross has been presented differently but has never lost its way to resonate.
Sometimes the cross also becomes background, usually with Christ in front of it. As a visual that hard to ignore, the cross almost always drags one's eyes from any corner of the room.
If we turn the "+" 45 degrees, we will have "x", which has distinct meanings in different cultures. In Chinese culture, it would mostly mean wrong and error, while in Germany people would use it to select an option.
Cross also reminds me of balance. A standing cross has to be the same weighted on both arms, which is unstable and fragile. It has a tension that everyone would hesitate and fear to break. Sometimes, designers and artists would use that characteristic to create a disproportion intentionally to enhance that sensation.
