Drawing investigations [electronic resource] : graphic relationships with science, culture and environment Sarah Casey, Gerry Davies

Using close visual analysis of drawings, artist interviews, critical analysis and exegesis, __Drawing Investigations__ examines how artists use drawing as an investigative tool to reveal information that would otherwise remain unseen and unnoticed. How does drawing add shape to ideas? How does the artist accommodate to challenges and restraints of a particular environment? To what extent is a drawing complementary and continuous with its subject and where is it disruptive and provocative? Casey and Davies address these questions while focusing on artists working collaboratively and the use of drawing in challenging or unexpected environments. __Drawing Investigations__ evaluates the emergence of a way of thinking among an otherwise disconnected group of artists by exploring commonalities in the application of analytical drawing to the natural world, urban environment, social forces and lived experience. Examples represent a spectrum of research in international contexts: an oceanographic Institute in California, the archives of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the Antarctic Survey, geothermal research in Japan and the Kurdish diaspora in Iraq. Issues are situated in the contemporary theory and practice of drawing including relationships to historical precedents. By exploring drawing's capacity to capture and describe experience, to sharpen visual faculties and to bridge embodied and conceptual knowledge, __Drawing Investigations__ offers a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice. "Using close visual analysis of drawings, artist interviews, critical analysis and exegesis, Drawing Investigations examines how artists use drawing as an investigative tool to reveal information that would otherwise remain unseen and unnoticed. How does drawing add shape to ideas? How does the artist accommodate to challenges and restraints of a particular environment? To what extent is a drawing complementary and continuous with its subject and where is it disruptive and provocative? Casey and Davies address these questions while focusing on artists working collaboratively and the use of drawing in challenging or unexpected environments. Drawing Investigations evaluates the emergence of a way of thinking among an otherwise disconnected group of artists by exploring commonalities in the application of analytical drawing to the natural world, urban environment, social forces and lived experience. Examples represent a spectrum of research in international contexts: an oceanographic Institute in California, the archives of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the Antarctic Survey, geothermal research in Japan and the Kurdish diaspora in Iraq. Issues are situated in the contemporary theory and practice of drawing including relationships to historical precedents. By exploring drawing's capacity to capture and describe experience, to sharpen visual faculties and to bridge embodied and conceptual knowledge, Drawing Investigations offers a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice."-- Provided by publisher "Using close visual analysis of drawings, artist interviews, critical analysis and exegesis, Drawing Investigations examines how artists use drawing as an investigative tool to reveal unseen information that would otherwise remain unseen and unnoticed. How does drawing add shape to ideas? How does the artist accommodate the challenges and restraints of a particular environment? To what extent is a drawing complementary and continuous with its subject and where is it disruptive and provocative? Casey and Davies address these questions while focusing on artists working collaboratively and the use of drawing in challenging or unexpected environments. Drawing Investigations evaluates the emergence of a way thinking among an otherwise disconnected group of artists by exploring commonalities in the application of analytical drawing to the natural world, urban environment, social forces and lived experience. Examples represent a spectrum of research in international contexts: an oceanographic institute in California, the archives of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the Antarctic Survey, geothermal research in Japan and the Kurdish diaspora in Iraq. Issues are situated in the contemporary theory and practice of drawing, including relationships to historical precedents. By exploring drawings' capacity to capture and describe experiences, to sharpen visual faculties and to bridge embodied and conceptual knowledge, Drawing Investigations offers a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice." --Back cover Using close visual analysis of drawings, artist interviews, critical analysis and exegesis, 'Drawing Investigations' examines how artists use drawing as an investigative tool to reveal information that would otherwise remain unseen and unnoticed.0How does drawing add shape to ideas? How does the artist accommodate to challenges and restraints of a particular environment? To what extent is a drawing complementary and continuous with its subject and where is it disruptive and provocative? Casey and Davies address these questions while focusing on artists working collaboratively and the use of drawing in challenging or unexpected environments. 0'Drawing Investigations' evaluates the emergence of a way of thinking among an otherwise disconnected group of artists by exploring commonalities in the application of analytical drawing to the natural world, urban environment, social forces and lived experience. Examples represent a spectrum of research in international contexts: an oceanographic Institute in California, the archives of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the Antarctic Survey, geothermal research in Japan and the Kurdish diaspora in Iraq. Issues are situated in the contemporary theory and practice of drawing including relationships to historical precedents.0By exploring drawing's capacity to capture and describe experience, to sharpen visual faculties and to bridge embodied and conceptual knowledge, ?Drawing Investigations? offers a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice Title Page Copyright Page Contents Figures Acknowledgements Introduction The difference between pictures and analysis Theoretical underpinning The structure of the book Notes Chapter 1: Drawing on the past: A historical context for graphic investigations Early investigations Natural history drawing Visualizing the unseen The advent of photography The case for drawing Drawing at war Twentieth century and the avant-garde Notes Chapter 2: Seeing inside: Drawing in the body Emma Hunter Susanna Heller Drawing seeing inside the body Notes Chapter 3: Visualizing the invisible: Drawing mathematics and cosmos Gemma Anderson John Stell Visualizing the invisible: Drawing mathematics and cosmos Notes Chapter 4: On unfamiliar ground: Drawing environment, Emma Stibbon Helen Scalway Drawing: Environment, place and space Notes Chapter 5: Traces of life: Drawing history and culture Ingrid Mida Alexander Roob Drawing history and culture Notes Chapter 6: Front lines: Drawing war, conflict and the law Jill Gibbon Jason File War, conflict and the law Notes Chapter 7: Drawing conclusions Drawing in the face of adversity Time and the efficiency of drawing The proximity of drawing Drawing and objectivity The value of subjectivity Drawing and technology Drawing as evidence What does drawing gain? Notes Internet sources Concluding remarks Bibliography Books, chapters and articles Internet sources Index There is a wealth of historical examples of artists using drawing to probe elusive ideas, explore unknown territories and make sense of complex information. There is also growing evidence that a type of fine art drawing has re-emerged to have the capacity to be a powerful, interdisciplinary research tool. However, these contemporary examples are as yet disparate, unconsolidated and under-researched. Identifying and evaluating this impulse in international examples of contemporary drawing offers the prospect of a 'depictive turn' - a fresh critical perspective on contemporary drawing practice and thinking in a way that demonstrates drawing's relevance to other fields of research. Topics covered are of international and global significance, such as medical research, global warming, and international conflict. This book provides an accessible introduction to this exciting and timely development in drawing practice and research which is currently critically unexamined List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Drawing on the past: a historical context for graphic investigations -- 2. Seeing Inside: drawing in the body -- 3. Visualising the Invisible: drawing mathematics and the cosmos -- 4. On Unfamiliar Ground: drawing environment, place and space -- 5. Traces of Life: drawing history and culture -- 6. Front Lines: drawing war, conflict and the law -- 7. Drawing Conclusions -- Concluding Remarks -- Bibliography