Month: April 2020

Categories
Eye-drawing Hand Practice-based PhD

15: Generative viewpoints

Figure 35: Generative development between the eye-drawings in Figure 34

The eye drawing session in Figure 32 was designed in anticipation of a possible generative development. An eye-drawing can be both exported as such, as a rendered 2-dimensional image, or further developed using computer-aid tools. Technically speaking, the eye-drawing becomes a geometrical polyline sitting in a 3-dimensional space where the perspective viewport is flexible and interchangeable. The view of the eyedrawing/polyline curve can be positioned as needed. One might therefore argue that the eye-drawing acquires sculptural value within 3-dimensional virtual platforms and this is the stage where I feel that my position of an editor is enhanced. The practice within Figure 32 was designed in view of the latter considerations, with the knowledge that the eye-drawing results from different viewpoints can be plotted within the virtual space, with the possibility of further computer-aided development.

Categories
Eye-drawing Hand Practice-based PhD

14: More viewpoints

Figure 32: Eye drawing my hand from five different viewpoints

Figure 33: Five eye-drawings corresponding to Figure 32

Figure 34: An eye-drawing consisting of the superimposition of the five eye-drawings in Figure 33

Categories
Eye-drawing Hand Practice-based PhD

13: More characteristics

Figure 30: Eye drawing my own hand

Figure 31: Resulting eye-drawing from Figure 30

Within my practice of eye drawing, the tangible surface is not present,
and therefore the act of drawing navigates between the eye and the mind. This enhances my visual perceptive mechanism, as the gazing point on the subject (my hand) is a conceptually imagined point. I have no physical reference of where the point is while eye drawing, and technically speaking I would be lost if not for our inner perceptive mechanisms such as imagination and memory. The latter are mental functions which are of a volatile and flexible nature, and therefore this also means that its limitations characterise each eye-drawing. This point reminds me of the question that if drawing is merely about the eye-hand coordination, what difference is there with a game of tennis? (Walker 2005). I feel that the correspondence with our interior mental image while drawing is this crucial difference.
Figure 31 explicitly illustrates the tension provided by the restraining of my body movements — and specifically, the controlling of the eye movements. Occurrences of evident inattention can be observed. These make-up for the aesthetic compositional arrangement of the eye-drawing, which is characterised by occasional spikes away from the concentration of the hand. I find this information to be of utmost interest within this practice. Firstly, I am not aware these movements happened while eye drawing my hand — I only discovered them at a later stage during post-processing. Therefore, I see them as being part of our innate biological aspects which escape the attempt of restraining my eye movements into a different way of looking from our natural perceptive functioning.

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References:
Walker, J. (2005). Old Manuals and New Pencils. in Davies, J., & Duff, L. (eds.). Drawing, the process. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

Categories
Drawing Eye-drawing Practice-based PhD

12: Eye drawing characteristics

Figure 29: An eye-drawing of my hand resulting from Video 2

In view of treating Figure 29 as a drawing, there are two particular qualities which need to be discussed. The first relates to the biology of the eye, in so far as it being an organ which is constantly in motion, even when we focus on a particular point within our worldview. The linear quality within Figure 29 is therefore made up of long linear stretches (saccades) and smaller accumulation of lines at specific points (fixations). Cognitive science states that no vision occurs during saccades motion, as these consist in fast movements travelling from point A to point B. On the other hand, fixations are resting points where the gaze focuses and acquires visual information.
While eye drawing, my resulting eye-drawing is therefore inevitably influenced by this biology, and my contouring travels in small ‘steps’ along the edges of my hand. This contrasts to the fluidity present when hand drawing.
The second important characteristic concerns the compositional element within the eye-drawing. Since I do not have any visual reference to the formation of the eye-drawing itself while I am eye drawing, there are no compositional decisions taken during the performative act. This decision comes into place once I assume the position of an editor, and are taken through the viewport display view of software like Rhino3D.
These two main characteristics apply to all of my eye-drawings which have been processed so far. This is also my interpretation of them, and the practice itself will lead me into further necessary knowledge concerning the restriction of my body, properties of my eye movements, properties of the technology (both hardware and software) and the eye-drawings themselves among others.