Drawing- in and outside -writing

In the Greek word ‘graphein’, drawing and writing share an etymological root. This closeness can be seen in medieval manuscripts or, more prosaically, in the early scrawls of children where there is little distinction between drawing and writing. From a phenomenological perspective writing and drawing are also closely related. Although they are considered discrete disciplines, with different modes of comprehension and interpretation, for the maker there can be a similarity of process.

Writing retains the potential to slide into drawing, drawn lines can easily become letters. Drawing—in and outside—Writing investigates the slippage between these two acts. Individually and together, over a year, four visual artists, Peter Morrens, Kelly Chorpening, Ans Nys and Rebecca Fortnum have developed ways to explore the relationship between writing and drawing, and this book is the result of their speculations.

Each artist developed their own visual chapter that represented the narrative of their thinking during the project. Images and words flit from one chapter to the next, appearing in different forms, to weave a complex web of influence and reflection. As the project continued each artist (perhaps subconsciously) began to fill perceived gaps in how the relationship between drawing and writing was being addressed. By the end, a wide range of approaches were in play: spontaneous, planned, revised, erased; legible, incoherent, gestural, iterative; intimate, formal, casual, monumental.

Support was provided by the Camberwell Chelsea Wimbledon Graduate School, University of the Arts London, the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Lancaster University and Voorkamer. Published in part to document an exhibition at Voorkamer, Lier, Belgium, May 2011.

• http://process.arts.ac.uk/content/drawin...
• http://www.rgap.co.uk/drawinginandoutsid...
• http://petermorrens.com/publications/dra...
• http://www.colinsackett.co.uk/design_pro...
• https://www.cornerhousepublications.org/...