Dear Friends,
A linguistic abyss seems to separates us. As a Neo-Latin native, my word
corresponding to drawing is "Desenho". In fact, meaning something graphic,
it was imported from Italy in the Early sixteen hundreds and it is read the
same way as "Disegno", the Italian word for it. Before that, we used
"Debuxo", the same as the Spanish "Dibujo". As far as I know, only in
Italian and Portuguese, the same word meant Design and Drawing. Lately, in
the past century, the English word Design colonized both our languages (the
Spanish still keep Diseño for Design) and little by little Desenho starts
meaning only Drawing.
Well, my point is that Drawing has a focus on the gesture and
Desenho/Disegno has a focus on the meaning: remember Segno (sign). Di
indicates action, so, literally, Disegno could mean signs in action or
making signs. These signs require a media, a place of "voidness" so they can
start meaning something. By the contrast between the void and the full the
sign emerges from its littlest manifestation, the point, as Alberti pointed
out in De Pictura. Obviously, meaning is a mental construction. If you
"read" disegni, they are disegni. In that case, John Stell's Drawing is a
Disegno because I identify this game of signification similar to "regular"
made disegni.
As for Drawing, I really don't know. To be true I would expect that you,
Germanic natives would say that if it wasn't drawn by anyone, it isn't a
drawing. On the other hand it could be a Design! In the sense of pattern. Or
a form in the sense of Ruskin's form worthy of being interpreted and copied
like the gneiss rocks.
Well, must go now.
Cheers
Eduardo Côrte-Real
PS: Je pense que Sylvia a quelque chose a nous dire regardant « Dessin ».
----- Original Message -----
From: "Louisa Martin" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: is this a drawing?
if you say so.
i think it has to do with context.
louisa
----------------------------------------
> Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:23:15 +0000
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: is this a drawing?
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> is this a drawing? How can you tell?
>
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2212/2146616831_36b4b425ca_b.jpg
>
> John
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