People make mistakes, I think Hockney may have used an inappropriate word.
Maybe were taking his word too literally. People who who take for instance
the bible literally run into all sorts of problems.
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK drawing research network mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of John Stell
Sent: 27 January 2005 10:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why draw?
Thanks, the notion of form seems clear enough. What wasn't clear to me
before this and other helpful responses was that formal was being used
as the adjective from form in this sense rather than in the sense of
based on rules in a precise way. In an interdisciplinary context this
can be very confusing. What, for example is formal discourse? It could be
discourse concerning form or discourse in a mathematically precise
language. Similarly 'formal language' can mean quite different things
in computer science and in art. To some people a formal problem is one
that is specified in an exact manner or one that concerns the precise
specification of something. In the quote from David Hockney it seems to be
a problem concerning form, formal applying to the subject of the problem
and not the representation of the problem. Of course the senses are
related: form of problem vs problem of form.
John
On Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Jenny McMahon wrote:
> Formal problems in drawing normally refer to problems of line, shape,
> colour, texture, tone; and the relationships between them. From such a
> focus form emerges. The various meanings the spectator attributes to
> the drawing look after themselves. Artists like Henry Moore spoke about
> their concern with form. Listen to the architect Gehry talk about
> paintings which inspire his architecture. He can discuss Northern
> renaissance paintings in terms of pure form. An Australian painter,
> Fred Williams, about whose work theorists have attributed
> interpretations about Australian identity, simply said that the
> landscape was a hook on which to hang his hat, so to speak. His
> interest was purely in form.
>
>
--
Dr John G. Stell room: E.C.Stoner 9.15
School of Computing phone: +44 113 34 31076
University of Leeds fax: +44 113 34 35468
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U.K. http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/jgs
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