Julian
This is an area that I have been interested in too. I have found Betty
Edwards' books 'Drawing on the artist within' and 'Drawing on the right
side of the brain' to be very insightful. They are written partially as
a 'how to' guide to how to draw as a means of accessing the right side
of our brains - a purely visual region, as opposed to the left which is
verbal. Her view is that we all inherently know how to draw and how to
'read' drawings, we just need to be taught it as we are taught to read
at school. Rudolf Arnheim's 'Visual thinking' also covers visual
expression and meaning.
best wishes
Caroline
--------------------
Caroline Calascione
14 Liverpool Road
Kingston, Surrey KT2 7SZ
020 8287 0022
07733 333027
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Hi Julian - I'm very interested in similar issues. My main focus is
the visual/tactile/non-verbal knowledge, skills and understanding that
are required (often tacitly) in different academic disciplines in
higher education - and then how we can make these more explicit and
help to develop them more systematically.
In particular I am very keen to raise the profile of drawing as a tool
for learning and research in different subject areas - and have
recently run a Big Draw event across the university here in different
subject areas throughout October.
All drawing workshops for particular subject groups were tailored to
their own disciplinary interests - for instance, one for health
professionals was based around how people conceptualise pain and
illness, their own and other people's. One of the participants wrote
afterwards about the impact on herself and her colleagues: " I think it
showed people that drawing depicts concepts in a very emotionally raw
way, and that people are accessing their thoughts and feelings via
quite a different route than when verbalizing. I also think that [the
workshop leader]'s way of getting us to do what I thought of as
iterative drawing exercises allowed us to push through one-dimensional
stereotypes of particular illnesses or conditions into a more
multi-faceted understanding of the relationship between illness,
internal and external perceptions of illness, treatment, aftercare and
identity. I think there is probably a lot more we could explore, if we
are able at some point."
The Big Draw@ Brighton generated plenty more examples which I am
currently writing up for various purposes - and we have plans for a
number of follow up research projects over the next year or so (as well
as a bigger and better Big Draw next year!) so will keep in touch - and
would love to know more about what you are doing.
---------------
Pauline Ridley
Learning Area Co-ordinator (Visual Practices)
Learnhigher CETL
Centre for Learning and Teaching
Room 113, Mayfield House, Falmer
University of Brighton
Brighton BN1 9PH
01273-643406
Email [log in to unmask]
Visit the CLT website at http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/clt
Visual Practices website http://staffcentral.brighton.ac.uk/learnhigher
-----Original Message-----
From: The UK drawing research network mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Julian Burton
Sent: 10 November 2007 11:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Visual meaning
Hi,
I am new to this list, and would like find out if anyone has done any
drawing research into visual meaning, as I want to get involved in, or
start, a group to explore visual meaning-making its relationship to
verbal language.
I am interested in the relationship between language, mark making and
the utility of visual representations. How creating tangible, physical
artifacts can be useful for people. I want to explore how and why
images that represent significant personal or group experiences,
stories, values, emotional states or abstract ideas can be useful for
reducing ambiguity and anxiety .How images that represent what is most
important, what matters most to someone can help organise experience
and help to make sense, generate shared understanding and group
cohesion.
The two quotes below from Andre Leroi-Gourhan and Jurgen Habermas are
the the inspiration for this project
If any one is interested or knows about any research around this
subject, I would love to hear from you.
Warm regards
Julian
“Thus the reason why art is so closely connected to religion is that
graphic expression restores to language the dimension of the
inexpressible- the possibility of multiplying the dimensions of a fact
in instantly accessible visual symbols. The basic link between art and
religion is emotional, yet not in a vague sense. It has to do with
mastering a mode of expression that restores humans to their true place
in a cosmos whose centre they occupy without trying to pierce it by an
intellectual process[writing and speech] which letters have strung out
in a needle-sharp, but also needle-thin line.”
Andre Leroi-Gourhan
“The fact that sensory contact with the world is reworked into
something meaningful through the use of symbols is the defining feature
of human existence...through symbolic transformation of sense
experience into meaning, affective tension is both discharged and
stabilised. The position of of human beings in the world is defined by
a form-giving power which transforms sense impressions into meaningful
structures...Human beings master the forces of nature which rush in
upon them through symbols which spring from the productive
imagination...Language puts a stamp on the awareness of speaking
subjects and also provides them with a medium for the expression of
their own experiences.”
Jurgen Habermas
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