DRAW TO LOOK
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DRAW TO LOOK is a one to one participatory drawing performance and evolving exhibition.
Dramturgy by Alice Tatton Brown
Outside eye by Jo Bannon
Design advisory from Alexander Stevenson
Desk built by Sean Clark
Produced by Katherine Hall
Performed with Joanna Young
Draw to Look is about the liveness of observational drawing, the affect this occasion has on our relationship to what we choose to draw, and the resulting marks as maps of our looking. Using a simple drawing exercise Hannah creates an accessible drawing experience, dispelling pressures of skill or technique, refocusing on allowing time to notice what we cultivate when we draw.
One at a time, participants join her at a desk specially made for two people to draw each other without looking at the paper. A simple occasion to notice the looking that drawing allows and the difference it makes.
‘We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.'
- John Berger, Ways of seeing.
'It was a feeling like no other...I loved it and understood what makes you draw.'' - Audience response
'Wonderful calm. Wonderful attention. A soft lightness. A gentleness. A directness also.'
- Audience response
'To not be able to see myself drawing took that control away and encouraged me to look at Hannah. Looking so closely at someone and feeling them looking at me was a unique experience.' - Audience response
'A time to truly unplug, everything about the experience felt ceremonious and reflective, sometimes an unexpected outcome can be more joyous.' - Audience response
'Sullivan’s piece is infinitely delicate. It is a snatched moment, a secret shared between you for fifteen minutes. It offers an opportunity to examine, and to focus on nothing but this little bubble of calm.' - Exeunt. Full review.
For more writing on the project visit this artist blog.
Previous Performances:
April/May 2017 - Royal West of England Academy, Bristol.
May 2018 - Gateshead International Festival of Theatre 2018.
May 2018 - Bristol Cathedral as part of Mayfest 2018.
December 2018 - Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax.
Draw To Look was developed especially for the Drawing Lab at DRAWN 2017, inspired by the RWA building and spaces. Draw To Look was presented in association with MAYK and supported by Royal West of England Academy and Arts Council England. Made with Thanks to Loft 6D, Interval, Cove Park, and the writings of John Berger and Tania Kovats.
Photography by Paul Samuel White