Inbetween : drawing breath : an embodied practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2014
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Massey University
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Abstract
In this inquiry I explore the role of phenomenology and embodiment
within a drawing practice.
In phenomenology of Perception (1945), French Philosopher Maurice
Merleau Ponty argued that people perceive and conceptualize everything
bodily. He stipulated that our very consciousness is embodied.
My closest companion on my journey is the philosopher Gaston
Bachelard (Bachelard, 1969). Bachelard insists on the transfer of the poet’s
affectivity to the surrounding space and objects: a process, which endows all
matter with a poetic essence and expands the experience of intimate space
into a poetic space.
My practice is a perceptual experience of space and time, which
focuses closely on the senses and sensuality.
When applying Bachelard’s philosophy in the studio issues around
embodiment arose. It became obvious that this project was bigger than the
studio could contain, it needed to take a walk. In large-scale performative
drawings I am exploring the inbetween space that I experience when taking
a walk, when the rhythm of my body and imagining consciousness slips into
another space where daydreams open up and expands my experience of a
vast inner landscape. The resulting works are a form of lyrical abstraction.
‘Each one of us should make a surveyor’s map of his lost fields and
meadows. In this way we cover the universe with drawings where we have lived.
These drawings need not be exact, but they need to be written according to the
shapes of our inner landscapes.’
Gaston Bachelard
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This abstract is not included in the print or electronic copies of the whole thesis, but was supplied separately.
Keywords
Drawing, Gaston Bachelard, Drawing philosophy, Art and unconscious thought, Abstract drawing