The Body Motion Drawings
At first, when beginning a project there is a period of learning,
of correlating specific thoughts, actions and techniques. Upon
beginning a drawing-based project, my idea of what habitually
constitutes the activity of making a drawing is difficult to
recognize and then break from. A period of trial and error is
played out in the early stages of a drawing. It is a period of
unlearning (a suspension of making marks purely from sight)
as I have been trained from childhood to make a mark and
then respond to that mark, in essence controlling the mark
making process. This way of thinking and acting or reacting is
definitive of the traditional drawing process.
From the outset of a project, even though I initially declared the
action of my body or the process of motion as my intention, it
takes some time to adjust my perception and shift my
attention to the process (action or motion) of my body. There
is a moment of awareness and enlightenment during a
project that causes a paradigmatic shift. At this point, through
repetition, the distinction between drawing and the physical
action of mark making becomes clear and appear as two
separate concepts. Basically the project deconstructs in my
mind and focus shifts to more underlying and specific
concerns as to what the action and result mean, both in the
moment and metaphorically on a larger scale as related to
life. At some point during a session I become aware of and
focused on process and less on the result of that process,
namely drawing. Calling these works body motion drawings
encompasses both concepts but foremost in production of the
project is the process, the body motion aspect and the
secondary outcome is the appearance of a drawing, a
document confirming the fact that a process took place.
At first, when beginning a project there is a period of learning,
of correlating specific thoughts, actions and techniques. Upon
beginning a drawing-based project, my idea of what habitually
constitutes the activity of making a drawing is difficult to
recognize and then break from. A period of trial and error is
played out in the early stages of a drawing. It is a period of
unlearning (a suspension of making marks purely from sight)
as I have been trained from childhood to make a mark and
then respond to that mark, in essence controlling the mark
making process. This way of thinking and acting or reacting is
definitive of the traditional drawing process.
From the outset of a project, even though I initially declared the
action of my body or the process of motion as my intention, it
takes some time to adjust my perception and shift my
attention to the process (action or motion) of my body. There
is a moment of awareness and enlightenment during a
project that causes a paradigmatic shift. At this point, through
repetition, the distinction between drawing and the physical
action of mark making becomes clear and appear as two
separate concepts. Basically the project deconstructs in my
mind and focus shifts to more underlying and specific
concerns as to what the action and result mean, both in the
moment and metaphorically on a larger scale as related to
life. At some point during a session I become aware of and
focused on process and less on the result of that process,
namely drawing. Calling these works body motion drawings
encompasses both concepts but foremost in production of the
project is the process, the body motion aspect and the
secondary outcome is the appearance of a drawing, a
document confirming the fact that a process took place.
Charles Livingston Studio
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