Performative Drawing Apparatus: Relations of Constraint and Abandon

Abstract

Through investigating relations between constraint and abandon, this research paper discusses how a series of performative drawing projects have effected the relationship I’ve had with control in my drawing practice. Experimenting with drawing’s expansive potential – the interconnected processes involved in this research has been both analytical and exploratory. Initially introducing predetermined methods into my drawing process, a threedimensional armature was developed. These methods are discussed in relation to the early modernist photographic work and the Futurists artworks, in order to contextualise the mapping of the bodily movement through drawing. This is further investigated through a process of notation from two dimensions into three dimensions. Two processes are tested – the autographic, where I am positioned in direct contact with the work, versus the allographic in which notation becomes a method of mediation via an iterative armature. The second chapter discusses how a three-dimensional armature becomes an instrument for performative drawing. Since the armature is worn as an extension of the body it may be understood as an apparatus (or abstract prosthesis) for my body. This apparatus, while intending to create open-ended process, also asserts control upon the process. This tendency towards control challenges the possibility for free abandon within specific studio-based projects that collectively constitute this research project. The connection between loss of control and restraint is discussed in relationship to concepts of the apparatus as outlined by Giorgio Agamben. The final chapter discusses the performative aspect of the research project. It considers the heroic figure in the performance of the drawing. This chapter looks at Amelia Jones’s examination of Jackson Pollock’s centred subjectivity embodied by the heroic male figure in art. This is discussed in relation to my own studio work and how it entails my costumed figure performing for an audience while struggling with a large steel appendage. This chapter also critically investigates the notion of the ‘artist as genius’ in relationship to the ways in which I have negotiation relinquishing control within the process of drawing.