Questions about the process jotted down in my sketchbook :
Does direction matter (up and down or side to side?)
How far the lines overlap?
Taking the pen off the paper or scribbling?
where do you start and finish?
Brand/ size of pen ? size of pen 'nib'
How you hold the pen?
Pressure of the pen?
Speed of drawing?
How long you spend in one session?
Quality/texture of the paper?
What's underneath the paper ?
Drawing guidelines - is there a plan?
Retracing steps, going over sections/
Practice?
This last one made me think of the 'unknown draughtspeople' who actually did the work . Theirs were the individual marks that brought variation to the work but remain unacknowledged. What did these assistants think of what they were drawing?
Likewise the skilled women embroiderers whose work was organised by male Afghan associates of Boetti , first in Afghanistan then Pakistan . Wonderful stitch mark-making particularly in the seas of the maps.
Who is the artist- the designer or the person who executes it?
Thanks for introducing me to Boetti - lots of food for thought here!
ReplyDeleteWho is the artist?
ReplyDeletetraditional answer: the artist had the idea, the craftsperson executed it. For instance, the "paintings" in St. Peter's in Rome, which aren't painted at all, but done in mosaic -- and are identified as by Giotto, even though I highly doubt he ever picked up a piece of stone or glued it to the wall. In this view the "ART" occurs primarily in the brain, not in the hand.
I think this definition probably still holds, although some contemporary artists do give credit to their craftspeople. Worth thinking about.