Back to the drawing board

Kelly Chorpening  

Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts, London

 

In ‘Back to the drawing board’ I will discuss the role contemporary drawing could have in today’s Middle East through a discussion informed by my own experience as an artist and researcher, and as a lecturer of drawing to artists and non-artists alike.

Background

Since 2006 I have run the BA Drawing course at Camberwell College of Arts. The course sits within the fine art programme of subjects, and as you might expect, involves life drawing, observational perspective and orthographic projection, but also provides forays into the ways disciplines such as dance, choreography, medicine, architecture, history and philosophy use and identify with drawing. Drawing does not belong to art— it’s a fundamentally human act— so its exemption from the struggle more archetypal subjects such as painting have with their own histories, enables a distinctly outward-looking approach to creativity. Drawing effectively provides a passport to explore its uses across a range of professions. Skills of analysis are developed as much through the translation of the real world into line, as the questioning of how the stakes of such activities have changed over time.

Back to the Drawing Board

‘Back to the drawing board’ is a phrase used when it’s time to start again. In this lecture I would like to free the drawing board from its associative endgame of failed achievement in order to describe its location at the edges of discipline— one could even describe it as a pre-disciplinary place— in order to celebrate it as a place for innovation, where thoughts and ideas are brought into existence. The drawing board is a set of conditions that enable practitioners from across cultures and professions alike to work together and share ideas.

In this context, the drawing board becomes a destination that enables the speculation of an idea, where the speculation is made valid through the inherent directness, accuracy and precision of the medium. Ideas are given substance, and are able to suggest convincing possibilities without the limiting preoccupation with their use-value. In a time when the primacy of vocational disciplinarity has had a negative impact on innovation, could drawing invigorate, and possibly create new modes of practice?

In fine art, a refreshing characteristic of contemporary drawing exhibitions is how they tend to disrupt art historical categories.

link: Kelly Chorpening

“The Wave-Breaker” - a novel approach to computer aided design (CAD) representation.

Aurel von Richthofen

Assistant Professor for Architecture and Computer Aided Design

German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech)

 

wave-breaker, plan 1D, etching 25x17 cm

Abstract

Architectural drawings, such as design sketches, plans, sections, axonometrics and perspectives, underwent a dramatic shift since the advent of computer aided design (CAD) tools. While most CAD tools reproduce conventional drafting methods, they tend to be reductive in their programmatic rigidity. Users are forced into a linear and predefined design process and often frustrated by the lack of haptic feedback. The structural complexity of CAD programs often obscures the underlying generative methods.

In search for novel methods of CAD application - presented in the sketches, drawings and plans for the “Wave-breaker” project (Land Art / Installation Proposal, Muscat 2011) - I developed a series of methods and tools to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings of standard CAD. Boundaries of drafting software are expanded by introducing scripting and coding. The expression of data (text and numbers) inside the drawing aims to re-introduce the haptic quality of conventional drawing. A procedural approach of layering graphic elements and data with a constant visual update empowers the designer/programmer to harness the computational power of CAD applications.

wave-breaker, plotted data 2D, etching 25x17 cm

The “Wave-breaker” project challenges conventional architectural drafting methods as it is a landart and landscape installation. The project narrates the story of seemingly abandoned industrial artifacts (the concrete precast wave-breakers) in a desert landscape. It combines the technical precision of construction documents with the poetry and fragility of landscape drawings. Plan nor section suffice, rather a map of layers of information – landscape, artifacts, data – form the new digital environment. The underlying code regulates distribution, arrangement and rotation of the objects. 

wave-breaker, virtual model, software Rhinoceros 3D

Aurel von Richthofen is an architect, researcher and teacher invested in parametric design and cybernetic urbanism. Aurel grew up in Berlin and Geneva. He studied architecture at ETH Zurich and at Princeton University. He is the principle of aurelVR registered architects in Berlin. Aurel von Richthofen was Visiting Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio and lecturer at the FTH Berlin and TU Berlin. Since fall 2010 Aurel is Assistant Professor for Computer Aided Design and Architecture at the Department of Urban Planning and Architectural Design at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech).

link: Aurel VR architecture

Crossing the line by drawing the line out of the sphere of imagination

Aisan Kianmehr

Abstract 

    "From this detached imagination attached imagination derives."

Ibn Arabi, who has introduced imagination as the creative source of manifestation, the very cause of our existence and keeping in contact with the Infinite and the Absolute, explains that our power of imagining things, that is, our ability to conceive of their forms abstracted from their sensible bodies, belongs to "Attached imagination" (Khayal Muttasil). It is the imagining faculty functioning within a human psychological framework. It is referred to as "Attached" because it is an imagination conjoined to the imagining subject and inseparable from him.

"Detached imagination" (Khayal Munfasil) is Divine Imagination, God imagining the world and is the presence of the world in the divine Mind whereas "attached imagination' is human imagination and the forms conceived by it are extracted by the senses from natural forms which are part of the cosmic forms, which embody cosmic realities, man imagining the forms of existents brought into existence by the creative power of Divine imagination. Since human imagination has the power of participating in the world of potential existence, it is capable of composing an infinite number of various types of images.

That brings us to a question that is overwhelming the imagination of most artists and architects, Is it possible for us to think and form images of objects which in principle are impossible to construct?

The concept of impossible in the world of Architecture is specifically derived from the forces of gravity, an essential limit for architecture that rises up in a relationship of tension with the earth. This fact has always been motivating the architects to seek for approaches to be freed from this limitation and have repeatedly dreamed of flying buildings; the tendency which was commonly popular in the era of the French and Russian revolutions. Now architects who claim to be designers of Cyber-Architecture proclaim their freedom to design in a digital network space of zero gravity free from the constraints of gravity.

As cyber-space evolves to replace the actual space as a target for capital investment, it appears to be heading the direction where the meaning of the word Architecture is expanding to include the conformation of virtual space in computer displays and the architecture in practice has crossed the boundaries of Art and Science.

Interview with Stephen Farthing

Stephen Farthing RA, Rootstein Hopkins Professor of Drawing at the University of the Arts London, will be one of the keynote speakers at the Crossing The Line Conference in Dubai, UAE, at the American University in Dubai, in early November, 2011. The Conference is a joint project of AUD and RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. In this brief interview, the artist gives us some initial thoughts on drawing and on his participation in Crossing The Line: Drawing in the Middle East - intersections of transdisciplinary practice and understanding

What is the role of drawing in your own art practice?
.

Stephen Farthing - I use drawing in two quite different ways, first to record, then to unravel problems, plan and strategize.

How do you see the role of drawing in your experience as an educator?

Stephen Farthing - In western culture the drawing class has I suspect been considered by most of its users part church, part gymnasium. During the latter half of the twentieth century most progressive western art schools replaced drawing with two new subjects , one was Art Theory and the other a craft related subject based on familiarizing students with the use of Lens/Scanner Based Technologies. Over time this shift in direction within the curriculum lead to a substantial decline in interest in things hand-made and personal, and it seems a surge in interest in Technological Interfaces and what I can best describe as Detached Randomness’s.

read the complete interview in the Panoptikon (click)

Crossing The Line Conference: accomodation information

The Holiday Inn Al Barsha – located conveniently opposite the University and Media City (see map below) would like to extend to you the following offer for your accommodation in Dubai during the Crossing The Line Conference:

click image to enlarge

 Time line: This offer is extended until 10th October 2011.

VISA

The Hotel can assist in obtaining all the necessary visas.

Kindly note that all Citizens of the following countries do not require an entry visa as they will be issued a tourist visa at the airport while passing through immigration: GCC Countries, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Spain, Monaco, Vatican, Iceland, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. We strongly advise against travelling before a visa has been covered by Dubai Immigration for nationalities not mentioned above.

The visas would be processed by the hotel the guests would be booked at. Visa charge are AED500 and will requires around 4 to 7 working days with the exception of Fridays, Saturdays and Public Holidays. Visa charges are non-refundable in case of cancellation or rejection and valid for a single entry through Dubai International Airport only. Service Visas are valid for entry to Dubai for 14 days from the date of issue, and then for 14 days from the date of entry to Dubai. Service Visas are non extendable. Companies with credit facilities are required to guarantee for the visa and will bear the cost of the fine in case of an over stay. For companies with no credit facilities in place a deposit of AED 5000 will be required per requested visa (UAE Immigration restrictions apply) and the total amount will be refunded upon receipt of a copy of the exit stamp by email/fax. The refund process may take 3 to 4 weeks.

An additional AED 2000 security deposit is required for visitors from the following countries: Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania (subject to change by Immigration without notice).

In order to process visas within the above time frame, we require the following;
   

Visa application form duly filled in for each applicant.

Clear color scanned passport copy of each applicant with at least 6 months validity (maximum 40KB size).
Clear, color scanned photograph of each applicant (maximum 40KB size).
Credit Card Authorization Form duly filled and signed.
Clear scanned copy of the Credit Card, front and back portion.
Clear scanned photo ID of the credit card holder.
A confirmed reservation at Holiday Inn Al Barsha.

Your visa request can only be processed once all the above documents are received and approved. Kindly note that all visas are subject to Immigration’s approval and fees are non-refundable Please note that visas requested within less than three (3) working days prior to the guest arrival are not guaranteed to be ready on time. The Hotel will however do its best to assist with these requests.
The hotel reserves the right to change the visa fees without any prior notice, should the applicable rates from Dubai Immigration & Naturalization Department change.

Rouxshin Vajifdar
Assistant Director of Sales - Holiday Inn Dubai - Al Barsha
P. O. Box 115443 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Tel: 00971 4 3234333 Fax: 00971 4 3234334
Direct: 00971 4 7040754 - Direct Fax: 00971 4 7040876 - Mobile: 00971 55 2111589

rouxshin.vajifdar@hialbarsha.com
www.holidayinn.com

click map to enlarge

Crossing the Line Conference: Interview with Irene Barberis

Irene Barberis with one of her artworks
at Langford120 in Melbourne, Australia, 2011

How was the idea of the conference Crossing the Line conceived?

IRENE BARBERIS - I have been working in a global context with Drawing for many years – over the last four, my conversations have been, amongst others, with Professor Stephen Farthing from the University of the Arts London. In 2009 I brought Stephen to Australia through the Metasenta, to exhibit at its Gallery – The DrawingSpace, Melbourne which was situated in RMIT University, while I exhibited performative and more sculptural drawings in the UK, at the University of the Arts London and the Bury Museum and Art Gallery. In April 2010 RMIT hosted an international Drawing Conference ‘Drawing Out’ at which Stephen was one of the Keynotes and I was involved through the Steering Committee. When in Dubai in January of this year for an exhibition at Tashkeel Bastakia, it occurred to me/us through a dialogue with Dr Marcelo Lima and Associate Professor Julia Townsend, that a conference on Drawing in the Middle East would be of enormous benefit to the extended community, and would be a pivot for dialogue on the specificities of ‘Drawing’ – its transdisciplinary nature, the porosity of its context, its marvelous span of materiality, and the multi layered nature of its linage and character. Drawing is a continuum of idea and thought, process and manifestation; it has the capacity to ‘capture’ and be a doorway to most everything and is to my mind all-inclusive. This conference will stimulate and hopefully galvanize Drawing as a presence in the Middle East.


read the complete interview here: PANOPTIKON

Crossing The Line: Call for Papers

Crossing the Line: Drawing in the Middle East - intersections of transdisciplinary practice and understanding will bring together specialists from various fields of research and practices to examine the role of drawing in the contemporary Middle East. Drawing as medium, as a tool, as notation, performance, and as a specific mode of thinking and imagining in the processes of invention, production, reproduction and communication within and across fields and disciplines: from art to science, from technology to ideology and cultural practices.  

Conference themes:

Drawing as a transdisciplinary practice
Drawing as an intersection
Crossing the Line: hand and technology in a changing world
Drawing: a portrait and landscape-notations of our time.


This conference is a collaboration between The American
University in Dubai and RMIT University, Australia.


The deadline for abstracts/proposals is 15 August 2011.

Enquiries: irene.barberis@rmit.edu.au

 Submit Abstract here

OCPMS: Conference List - click on CTL2011 and on Submit Abstract (left. below Welcome)

http://crossingthelineconference.blogspot.com/

Sponsored by:

American University in Dubai

RMIT University, Melbourne

Crossing the Line: Drawing in the Middle East - intersections of transdisciplinary practice and understanding :1st November – 3rd November 2011

Crossing the Line: Drawing in the Middle East - intersections of transdisciplinary practice and understanding will bring together specialists from various fields of research and practices to examine the role of drawing in the contemporary Middle East. Drawing as medium, as a tool, as notation, performance, and as a specific mode of thinking and imagining in the processes of invention, production, reproduction and communication within and across fields and disciplines: from art to science, from technology to ideology and cultural practices.  

The trans-disciplinary approach of the conference will highlight the specificities, as well as the commonalities of the various dimensions, fields, forms and uses of drawing, broadly defined as the production and extension of lines in space, as the creation of meaning by marking surfaces, as the creation and fixation of visible paths that record and communicate patterns of temporal-spatial experiences.

In this sense, drawing is the activity and product that makes explicit the interrelationships of flow and form in mental life. It mediates the flux of internal processes and allows the objectification of mental constructs and operations into practical-material as well as perceptual-symbolic entities.

The central notion of Crossing the Line emphasizes the act and the idea of drawing as, on one hand, the setting of clear boundaries defining symbolic and material entities within a representational field and representational practices, while at the same time stressing the relational nature of all formalizing processes and constructs, of meaning making and communicative processes in general.

In this sense, to draw is at the same time to establish a limit and to surpass it, it is to define the interrelated positive and negative components of any configuration. To draw is to create a boundary that is also an interface between domains, territories, modes of thinking and corresponding modes of being. To create a line is to produce a vector of thought and action, and in this sense, to mark a boundary is already to cross it, that is: drawing is a trans-formative process; it is the creation of new paths, new relationships, new configurations of knowledge.

Dr Marcelo Guimarães Lima

Venue:

American University in Dubai, Dubai, UAE.

Dates: 1st November – 3rd November 2011

Steering Committee:

International Chair: Dr. Irene Barberis
Middle East Co-Chair: Dr. Marcelo Guimarães Lima
Middle East Co-Chair: Associate Professor Julia Townsend

Affiliated Organisations:

Tashkeel, Dubai

Keynote Speakers

Professor Stephen Farthing, University of the Arts London
Mr. Nja Mahdaoui, Tunisia
Dr. Marcelo Guimarães Lima, AUD
Dr Irene Barberis, RMIT University, Melbourne

Metasenta Publications will print a small format book on the full conference papers to be distributed internationally.

There will be three exhibitions to accompany the ‘Crossing the Line’ Conference:

A major exhibition on Drawing in the Middle East. Opening November 3rd

AUD will host an exhibition of A4 drawings collected from across the Middle Eastern region, these will be shown at the conference and later exhibited in Melbourne at Gallery Langford 120. They will become part thereof of the Global Drawing Project  by Dr. Irene Barberis and Stephen Farthing to be published in 2012.