Drawing machines, bathing machines, motorbikes, the stars…: where are the masterpieces?

The term ‘digital drawing’ may imply a special kind of drawing, set against a natural approach. Previous generations also had to adjust to the new technologies of the time. Some resisted, some went ahead. New methods present difficulties as well as opportunities. The how-to-draw books of the 1900’s show not just one ‘traditional’ approach, but a wide range, and a healthy debate. For the past two centuries such books have here and there discussed both drawing machines, and the connected question of how to draw machines. One way or another the world of drawing will absorb the impact of computers, and it won’t be just as an isolated genre of slightly weird drawing. So it is wrong to exclude ‘digital’ drawing from surveys, to think of this category as distinct from mainstream drawing. Museums have already collected the significant works, and traced the history. The way forward should be to integrate digital tools within the broad spectrum of drawing types. There are no good reasons for not using digital devices, and no good reasons for not using pencils. All the same, I cite three cases where a pencil and paper technique would not be up to the job: football, a drawing jam session, and astronomy

A drawing book for digital eyes

Looking at book covers may not tell you everything, but they do tell you something. A collection of leather-bound ‘how to draw’ books of the nineteen twenties exudes confidence, the expertise of the masters handed down. The titles indicate attention to technique, referring to ‘pencil drawing’, ‘lead pencil drawing’, or ‘pen and ink’, and speak of the ‘art’ of drawing. Some of these had been in print for fifty years. There are idealised classical figures, nature studies, but also stirrings of a more liberal approach. By the nineteen forties and fifties the books are less formal, less symmetrical, and more Do-It-Yourself: ‘I wish I could draw’, ‘Drawing at Home’, ’The Natural Way to Draw’, ‘Drawing Without a Master’. Some are slim volumes running in series devoted to subjects such as ships, cats, trees, even tanks. You draw the world around you

Drawing: interpretation/translation

An exhibition which focuses upon the use of drawing in the work of 10 contemporary fine artists. This exhibition explores the role of drawing within the practice of a number of artists involved in teaching and research at CCW (Camberwell, Chelsea & Wimbledon Colleges of Art) part of The University of the Arts London and is the result of staff exchanges between The Chinese University Hong Kong and the University of the arts London. The aim of the exhibition is to explore the wide range of approaches to drawing within current practice, ranging from the conceptual through to observation drawing

Between digital and physical: some thoughts on digital printmaking

Paper discussing how digital printmaking relates to traditional physical printmaking. The relationship between online image and the physical product and how they fundamentally differ. Paul Coldwell uses examples of his own work to explore these ideas

SCIRIA Openmind seminar series

SCIRIA ‘OpenMind’ was a regular seminar series for University of the Arts London staff, MA and PhD students and the public. The seminars were hosted at Camberwell College of Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. The footage, audio and flyers offer an insight into the research processes and activities of SCIRIA members, associates and external speakers

Não te posso ver nem pintado: práticas pictóricas no século XXI

Mestrado em Criação Artística ContemporâneaO presente trabalho pretende abordar a forma como a pintura reagiu ao desafio das tecnologias, da fotografia, do vídeo, do filme, da instalação e do digital, expor algumas das abordagens pictóricas contemporâneas mais relevantes e analisar o trabalho de alguns dos seus artistas mais representativos. Questiona-se o caminho tomado pela pintura contemporânea e discutem-se abordagens pictóricas que se relacionam com a fotografia, vídeo, filme, espaço, instalação e digital. Este espaço de discussão e enquadramento teórico é complementado por uma parte prática, em que se apresentam quatro projetos originais de pintura.This study addresses how the paint reacted to the challenge of technology, photography, video, film, installation and digital, expose some of the most important contemporary pictorial approaches and analyze the work of some of its most representative artists. Objections to the path taken by contemporary painting and discusses approaches that relate to pictorial photography, video, film, space, installation and digital. This space for discussion and theoretical framework is complemented by a practical part, which presents four unique designs painting

The Brave New Virtual Art World The Evolution of Digital Art: NFTs and their Effects on the Art Market in 2021

The first half of 2021, NFT crypto art captured both the public’s attention and the art market due to the escalation of sales prices and the auction houses acceptance of cryptocurrencies. As an artform, digital art is not new. It began in the 1960s and 1970s with roots as early as the 1940s. During this evolution the lines between technology and art have intersected, often become blurred and in many cases have merged into new artforms. Even when scholars trace the origins of digital art to present day it is difficult to tell if scientists are influencing artists or artists shape technology. Crypto art comes with a unique set of benefits to both collectors and artists alike, but it also poses several new threats to the environment and the art economy. While museums, collectors and galleries are experimenting with best ways to store and display the crypto digital art, collectors and artists have the challenge to define how they would like to preserve and maintain the work whose technology is sure to be obsolete in the future

Foreword, in 'Perceptions of Knowledge Visualization: Explaining Concepts through Meaningful Images'

An introductory essay to the discipline of image visualisation from the point of view of visual art

The New Climate 1969-72

This keywork essay is included in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-79 held at Tate Britain, London 12 April - 29 August 2016. "The Arts Council’s 1972 exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, The New Art, was the first museum survey of new art practices by British artists. Anne Seymour, the exhibition organiser, describes how although many of them already had an international reputation, they were little known at home, and so the situation was ‘crying out for attention’. The New Art occurred at the same time as Documenta 5 in Kassel, and a number of artists were included in both – Art & Language for example, showed Index 1972in Documenta and a second version, Index 2, in The New Art. British artists – Keith Arnatt, Art & Language, Barry Flanagan, John Latham, Richard Long and Bruce McLean, to name a few – were included in group exhibitions in museums in Europe and New York: for instance, Op Losse Schroeven 1969 at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; When Attitudes Become Form at the Kunsthalle, Bern also 1969; Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, Land Art at the Galleria Civica D’Arte Moderna, Turin 1970, and Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects 1970 at the New York Cultural Center, just before Information, MOMA’s broader exhibition of new practices. And so, by the time ‘the new art’ had received official backing it was part of the territory of recognisable art practices; the paradigm shift had already occurred during the previous few years in Britain, Europe and the USA. The role played by art magazines in the distribution of information and ideas, as well as the circulation of photographs of new work, cannot be underestimated. Studio International was key. It presented new practices and ideas, helped establish many artists’ reputations and had a reach that extended beyond the UK. In providing a platform for artists, the magazine became as significant a venue as the gallery or museum. This was particularly notable with conceptual art practices, with work made specifically for distribution through publication. The magazine was also a vehicle for exhibition catalogues, and this multiple and innovative use made it a collaborator with artists, as well as fulfilling its conventional role of providing critical commentary. The assistant editor Charles Harrison taught part-time at St Martins, and the magazine commissioned artists’ pages, which could be used as the artist wished. Gilbert & George’s ‘magazine sculpture’ formed part of their contribution in May 1970. The double-page spread featured a black-and-white portrait photograph of George on the left, Gilbert on the right, with paper cut-outs of letters spelling ‘George the cunt’ and ‘Gilbert the shit’ pinned to their respective clothing. The offending words were crudely censored deliberately by editor Peter Townsend, and the magazine sculpture had been first shown at Robert Fraser Gallery in 1969 for just half an hour to avoid the censor...

Information Visualization (iV): Notes about the 9th IV ’05 International Conference, London, England

This review tells about the International Conference on Information Visualization that is held annually in London, England. Themes selected from the Conference Proceedings are focused on theoretical concepts, semantic approach to visualization, digital art, and involve 2D, 3D, interactive and virtual reality tools and applications. The focal point of the iV 05 Conference was the progress in information and knowledge visualization, visual data mining, multimodal interfaces, multimedia, web graphics, graph theory application, augmented and virtual reality, semantic web visualization, HCI, digital art, among many other areas such as information visualization in geology, medicine, industry and education