Call for Papers: Drawings Of… Drawings By… and Drawings With… . London, 1-3 June 2018.
Art, Materiality and Representation Conference, Royal Anthropological Institute / British Museum / SOAS.
Panel Convenor: Ray Lucas, Head of Architecture, University of Manchester
e-mail: RAYMOND.LUCAS@MANCHESTER.AC.UK
Inscribing marks into surfaces remains a relevant form of creative practice in this digital age. Drawings and other inscriptive practices are, however, often dismissed in a variety of ways: relegated to the status of images or objects of study rather than representing an understanding of the world in their own right. The status of drawing and other inscriptive practices in producing alternative forms of understanding remains contested, even in supposedly friendly disciplines such as architecture.
Interest in drawing within anthropology is a minor, but consistent concern. Recent work by Ingold, Causey, Schwanhäußer, Taussig, and Lucas revives this interest methodologically and theoretically, asking what it is to know through a practice. Further experimentation by Hodson and Clarke demonstrate the potential of inscriptive practices amongst other forms of inquiry from within a practice.
This renewed focus on creative practices within anthropology offers an alternative to art-historical modes of inquiry which, whilst important and useful, do not tell us everything about a drawing, notation, diagram or map, often neglecting the very making of the thing.
This panel is proposed in order to investigate a range of aspects of drawing. More broadly considered as inscriptive practices, drawing remains a crucial component of a number of creative practices from architecture through to fine art. The panels invite accounts from both practitioners and anthropologists, particularly when the practitioners are anthropologists.
Deadline for proposals: 8 January 2018.
The full call for papers is available here.