Hello
This message is from our colleague Eduardo
Côrte-Real.
He asked me to send for all of you.
Carlos
Duarte
===============================================
First, let me introduce myself:
I'm Eduardo Corte-Real, [log in to unmask], Arch.
PhD in Visual Communication. President of the Design School Direction Board of
IADE-Lisbon. I'm also researcher at UNIDCOM/IADE. Recently I wrote a book on the
nature of drawing in the early stages of the Modern Age. I called it The Triumph
of Virtue.
Secondly, I must say that I've been overwhelmed by
the velocity of the conference and confess that is impossible to read all the
posts. Nevertheless, it started a sort of duplication and acceleration of the
list, and things have beeing hot and interesting.
I will try to regain some of the discussions about
sketching and the rebirth of free-hand drawing.
From Rennaissance to Maneirism the word Disegno
(wich, I suspect was translated by Inigo Jones and others as Design) gain a new
field called Schizzo. This type of drawing wich was similar to some types of
drawing described in the Ceninno Cennini "Libro del'Arte" was stated to be the
way to start new projects, first in almost chaotic directions and then capable
of stimulate responses and thus start to build new forms.
I argued at my book that the virtue of a "Designer"
was mesured by the quality of his drawing habilities specialy after de Academie
del'Disegno in Florence and Rome.
In an sense, all Design Schools are the daughters
of this Academias wich linked Theorectical reflexion to practicioners and
promoted education. Is interesting that the Virtue concept evolved from the
dominion of Ethics to the dominion of Aesthetics. The Counter Reform arguments
against some artists where because thy where more concerned in exibiting their
Virtue than to be concerned with the contents of the work. Obviously the word
virtuoso gained a sort of "not whorthy" meaning.
The path lies, allways, between Ethics and
Aesthetics.
The harsh evolution of Bahaus responded to the
anti-modernist agenda that pretended that modern art was degenerated. The final
ethical predominance of Ethics, in Bauhaus, isolated Design as the more Ethic of
all arts since promoted confort and the general wellfare of
society.
The same thread American Design followed, based on
William James pragmatism. The mass production and not economic materials and
forms just promoted general consumism wich promoted richness.
I argued in a paper that most of European Design
was founded in Lamarck's view of evolution and Anglo/American Design was founded
in Darwin idea of evolution. Both visions had become cultural at the end of the
XIX century. And are remotly linked to Catholic and Protestant views of the
world.
One notion that separates Lamarck and Darwin is the
notion of waste. Darwin theory demonstrated that evolution produces a large
amount of waste in mass extintion and all.
Lamarck idilic view of girafes streching their
necks recuired a more moral God acting as a Designer.
Well, what has all this have to do with
scketching?
A lot. Drawing (Disegno) and specially Alberti's
Schematas was presented as a way to porsuit the perfection of a stable Nature.
On the building of a society based on Ethics the challenge was also to built a
perfect artificial world.
With the discovery that nature is in constant
evollution it was possible to understand design as a way of continous production
of more adapted objects. Sketching seemed to be perfect for this. The whole
process of generating a scketch seemed similar to the evolution in both
theorys.
My research has been oriented by the principles
stated previously. The study and analisys of scketches and the act of schetchig
is large and wide. The help of theorectical Physics and the theory of
information along with neuro sciences is open.
the fact is that when you are schetching your
pre-frontal cortex is in action and foresight and planning abilities are
also located in that area. If you read Damasio's work you will notice that
drawing promotes an emotional response from almost tantric to enrangement
experiences...
I teach a course called " Structures of Drawing II"
at a masters course. We had conducted interesting work of research on what I've
called lower structure: expression, recognition and temporality. But it where
quantifiable studies and not philosophical studies.
Well but now, Im ungry and thinking about
lunch.
To end:
Each new School must think if it will be a Lamarck
or a Darwin School or both. Never forgeting that it was free-hand Drawing wich
brought us here.
Best to all
Eduardo Corte-Real
PhD. Arch.
Associated Professor
President of the Direction Board
School of Design - IADE/Lisbon
IADE, Avenida D. Carlos I, nº4
1200-649 LISBOA
+351 21 393 96 87
fax: +351 21 397 85 61
