Drawing and the Narrative Tradition
Summary of the three drawing problems:
Bayeux Tapestry: The format is the same as the great tapestry made to illustrate the Norman Invasion of England in 1066. The problem is to use a battle narrative from any time in history to tell the story of a conflict that has been recorded in detail. The history may be a public record or a private record. Text is critical and must be incorporated in a similar way to the Bayeux Tapestry.
The media is open to inventive ways to solve the problem.
(Suggestions) Collage, Rice paper, Thread, Mono print, Drawing
Brueghel: This drawing is based on the spiral composition frequently used by Brueghel to narrate allegorical or genre scenes from everyday life. The problem is to tell a story that has contemporary significance. It must be a personal story drawn from each person’s experience. The spiral ‘delivers’ the message and the images need not have meaning to the outside viewer.
Gilgamesh: The drawing problem must embrace the spirit of antiquity and our relationship to a story and to images so far removed from modern experience that illustration will have to incorporate a glimpse or a fragmented knowledge of the events.
The Epic of Gilgamesh may be read on line. There are few specific images associated with the story; however the original tablets on which it was written are in cuneiform writing that must play a role in the drawing. The text is dated from the 7th Century, BC.
Media is open to expressive solutions.
(Suggestions) Frottage or collotype, Collage, Obscured image
10/22/02 ©Marian Stevens, 2002