In the 1960’s artists such as Richard Serra, Bruce Naumman, Robert Morris, and others approached drawing in my opinion in a very theoretical way. "Theysubscribe to a sense of time and the abstract object. These very conceptual notions of entropic forms, physics, thermodynamics and energy became objectified." [me1]
These concepts of temporary drawing, the transitive and the contingent as a process and became a way of recording an action or intellectual statement, sometimes used to visualise ideas, plans for installations, sculptures. These drawings had a different look from the traditional and contemporary drawing they would allow the artist to theorise visual aspects to explore and evolve well before any physical work existed. They would inform the artist of its intentions, they existed with the purpose of being work that could exist as finished. They would exist as Richard Serra said.
“ There is no way to make drawing-there is only drawing” Richard Serra, anything you can project as expressive in terms of drawing- ideas, metaphors, emotions, language structures- results from the act of doing.”[me2]
“ There is no way to make drawing-there is only drawing” Richard Serra, anything you can project as expressive in terms of drawing- ideas, metaphors, emotions, language structures- results from the act of doing.”
To extend these ideas further drawing also was released from the page, it became a line made by walking on the landscape in circles or straight or with a performance status.
Norman Bryson makes comments on the white background of the blank page of our contemporaries. He says the blank space being “perceptually present but conceptually absent."[me3]
This also contrast drawing with other means of expression, whereas painting uses the back ground to exist and to compose a structure.
He also says that the line moves in a confined path and space, freed from the need to consider the totality, “where the hand is now in parentesis”.[me4]
As well another interesting point that might allude to honesty and transparency arising from the act of drawing is this informality and presence in the absent space of the background.
Walter Benjamin writes ”the graphic line marks out the area and so defines it by attaching it self to it as its background…so that a drawing that completely covered its background would cease to be a drawing…the pure drawing will not alter the meaningful graphic function of its background “leaving it blank’ as a white ground”.[me5]
I think these are really interesting ways of looking at drawing in contrast with other means of expression and that is because it reinforces drawing capacity for wonder and imagination.
Nevertheless I believe these are references and comments made about the intended unfinished drawing, line drawing or even blind drawing.
Where in my opinion these ideas and points of view fit these descriptions.
