Brian,
Chronologically, the development of drawing has been linked I think to various philosophies of the day.... and the article by Seymour Simmons in Thistlewood's book about drawing research is really useful in identifying 4 particular "types" of drawing, namely analytical, observational, experimental and graphic, and running parallel philosophical theories alongside a description of explicit examples of drawing exercises (for instance, he makes the association between pragmatism and experiential drawing, and looks at the developments made by Nicolaides as an example of this).
As a development of that idea, I've thought that Motherwells approach to drawing could be described in a similar vein, and it's interesting both to judge and anticipate present day links in terms of styles/techniques and their relationship with modern day thought.
I suppose in these terms, drawing can be evidence/the representation of prevalent modes of philosophical thought, and when persuaded to look at it in this way, students are perhaps made to think about how they look at things, rather than what they are looking at.
I've been developing some drawing sessions to teach looking at things from this angle.
Trish
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Patricia Cain
PhD Student
School of Design
Glasgow School of Art
0141 334 2183
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