UNITY OF OPPOSITES 1-6

Today, and for the next two Mondays, we will look at a Unity Of Opposites as they apply to Transparent Drawing.  Each page will have 6 Opposites, for a total at the end of the series of 18.

In the Unity Of Opposites, meaning is dependent on two constructs which are opposite to each other.  The opposites are held in a relational tension.  For example, the meaning of speed is dependent upon the concepts of slow and fast.  This Unity of Opposites has been with us since pre-socratic Greece.

With this as a general guideline, I have assembled sets of opposing concepts as another tool with which to define Transparent Drawing.  They are in two columns.  Basically, one column supports Transparent Drawing (TD).  The other negates Representational Spacetime (RS).

What follows, then, is more or less a summary of central Transparent Drawing themes and beliefs, defined by looking at two opposing meanings.  Let’s have some fun.

One
TD:  Knowledge of Things                                 RS:  Knowledge of Vocabulary

In RS, to make either the drawing or painting look “right”, a vocabulary must be followed.  RS must speak the language of what is being represented.  If it doesn’t, this is why most representational drawings are “not good” which means a person “can’t draw.”  A tree has to share a culturally accepted vocabulary of tree.  TD is not limited by a visual vocabulary.   All you have to do is draw the knowledge.  All you have to do is draw the thing, which is comprised of leaves, branches, flowers, etc.

Two
TD:  Clarity                                                            RS:  Style

In RS, everything you do is given a style label.  We might categorize a drawing or a painting as impressionist.  Or we might say that it is constructivist.  We don’t attach style labels to transparent drawings.  They are only clear, or they are not.  They only demonstrate the work they are doing, or they do not (and instead are stylistic.)  They only document holistic knowledge, or they do not

Three
TD:  Answers question                                        RS:  Asks question

In TD, how it works is answered.  The narrative is complete.  The knowledge is demonstrated.  In RS, you do not get beyond the question.  The central problem with RS is how to get individual opaque blobs of opaque paint on a flat canvas to represent the three dimensional world.  RS continues to ask the question if the opaque blobs of paint are indicative of some sort of understanding of the world that is familiar to us.  And yet in RS, that question is never really answered.

Four
TD:  Information                                                   RS:  Appearances

While this may seem obvious, it is important to acknowledge how important appearances are in RS.  A sheep needs to appear as a sheep, given that it is an opaque blob of paint;  a cryptogram, a hieroglyphic.  So RS is principally concerned with not giving off of false information.  Whereas in TD, the concept of false information is impossible.  In TD, it is all accurate information.

Five
TD:  High Conceptual Knowledge                      RS:  Low Conceptual Knowledge

Thruout the history of our culture, as representation has advanced, conceptual knowledge has regressed.  A finished opaque architectural rendering has, for all practical purposes, all of the conceptual knowledge removed from the drawing.  And it is the belief herein that the more conceptual knowledge, the smarter the drawing.  And vice versa.

Six
TD:  Primitive                                                          RS:  Refined

Transparent Drawing has a strong affinity with cave painting and Egyptian modes of depiction.  According to our accepted cultural definition, we would call cave drawing and Egyptian primitive.  Yet both insist on clear classification.  Both rely on what Gombrich calls the “characteristic shape” of objects.  With great economy of means, we instantly understand a cave drawing of a bison, just as we instantly understand an Egyptian depiction of a grain harvest.  As we move away from the primitive, we include what we would call refined phenomenon in the picture that are emotional;  shadows, subtle light shadings, light reflecting off the water, etc.

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My drawing above was inspired by the image below.  I was searching around the topic of self symmetry.