- Phil Sawdon is an artist, writer, editor and the keeper and founder of The Fictional Museum of Drawing. He is an Hono... morePhil Sawdon is an artist, writer, editor and the keeper and founder of The Fictional Museum of Drawing.
He is an Honorary Fellow of Loughborough University where he worked for 'quite a long time' and was a director/co-founder of TRACEY drawing and visualization research from 1999-2015.
Personal blog: http://philsawdon.tumblr.com/
He is the co-editor with Russell Marshall and Marsha Meskimmon of the academic series Drawing In (Bloomsbury) and from 2010 to 2019 the Literature/Creative Text section of the online journal magazine Stimulus Respond.
He publishes widely and in many varied formats including edited books on contemporary drawing with I.B. Tauris and Intellect Ltd. The titles include Drawing: The Purpose (Intellect, 2008), Drawing Now (I.B. Tauris, 2007) Hyperdrawing (I.B. Tauris, 2012), Drawing Ambiguity (I.B. Tauris, 2015) and Drawing Difference: Connections Between Gender and Drawing (I.B. Tauris with Marsha Meskimmon, 2016). He also works with Deborah Harty (Nottingham Trent University and Loughborough University) as the creative drawing research collaboration humhyphenhum and with Russell Marshall as Marshall and Sawdon.
Some of his publications including drawing fictions can also be viewed in the Loughborough University Institutional Repository and there are various links on the media page of his personal blog.
Personal bog: http://philsawdon.tumblr.com/
Drawing In: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/drawing-in/edit
Drawing Interstices is a very short paper/drawing fiction published in the online journal Drain.
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Feel my way … outline judgements … I made some pictures is a first person chronological account of an ongoing (three years and counting) group of serial drawings. Incorporating illustrations I trace some of the development of seriality as... more
Feel my way … outline judgements … I made some pictures is a first person chronological account of an ongoing (three years and counting) group of serial drawings. Incorporating illustrations I trace some of the development of seriality as a drawing method that facilitates and identifies research questions; however my tale is also a paradox in that it is concerned with research methods that are not then positioned to answer formal research questions. Theory, drawing practice and drawing fictions are intertwined. I encounter the early pioneering work of Rhoda Kellogg and her notion of Aggregates in children’s drawing and I acknowledge The Fictional Museum of Drawing as a repository, rationale and conceptual space for my textual (drawing fictions) and drawn works.
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Is a lack of a definition, a position of ambiguity, desirable in response to the question: what is drawing? This paper presents a view taken from two traditionally distinct fields: art and design; design and technology. This view is... more
Is a lack of a definition, a position of ambiguity, desirable in response to the question: what is drawing? This paper presents a view taken from two traditionally distinct fields: art and design; design and technology. This view is formed through the research collaboration and co-editorship of TRACEY: the journal of contemporary drawing, and the pedagogical development of a Masters programme in visualisation by the authors. This view is that a lack of definition is not only desirable, it is also a necessity.
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Triptych is a collaborative research group originated by Kingston University, Loughborough University and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in 2005. Triptych's strategic intention is to improve the recognition, use and... more
Triptych is a collaborative research group originated by Kingston University, Loughborough University and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in 2005. Triptych's strategic intention is to improve the recognition, use and understanding of drawing pedagogy, whilst investigating the use and application of drawing in professional practice. Practice and theory will be explored to contribute to knowledge of the act of drawing.
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The taste of a tree; the connection of [the] senses, the transference of sensations to smell a colour or hear a drawing… Walking around a tree, observing the colour, texture and outline, sitting to draw, to document the actualities of the... more
The taste of a tree; the connection of [the] senses, the transference of sensations to smell a colour or hear a drawing… Walking around a tree, observing the colour, texture and outline, sitting to draw, to document the actualities of the object… this presents no interest… Walking around [the tree] observing the colour, texture, outline, breathing, mind and body absorbing tree, drawing through sensation the memory of the encounter… that presents the interest.
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This is the accompanying text to the moving image editorial of 'Ambiguity' on the open access electronic journal, Tracey [© Loughborough University].
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online blog Drawing Research Network (DRN) hosted by TRACEY at Loughborough University.
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online blog Drawing Research Network (DRN) hosted by TRACEY at Loughborough University.
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online literary magazine Danse Macabre, Issue 128: Nachtstücke.
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online literary magazine Danse Macabre, Issue 135: Postcards.
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online literary magazine Danse Macabre, in the section DM du Jour.
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This very short article/drawing fiction was published in the online literary magazine Danse Macabre, in the section DM du Jour, 1st February 2020.
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Through collaboration with The Agiad Collection and The Fictional Museum of Drawing, René Hector has developed a collection of contemporary journals and erratic rocks found in the libraries of his immense geological landscape. Sedimentary... more
Through collaboration with The Agiad Collection and The Fictional Museum of Drawing, René Hector has developed a collection of contemporary journals and erratic rocks found in the libraries of his immense geological landscape. Sedimentary periodicals are a rich source of marks, which trace the development of Hectorian visual culture and the evolving role of the drawing practitioner and miniature audience within it.
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Commencing in 1502 the year of a sweating sickness and some storms< dec> Our study is ongoing and currently incorporates twelve participants< snt> including René Hector (humhyphenhum), Monsieur Âne, Madame Pipe<│> Monsieur Lièvre, Jacques... more
Commencing in 1502 the year of a sweating sickness and some storms< dec> Our study is ongoing and currently incorporates twelve participants< snt> including René Hector (humhyphenhum), Monsieur Âne, Madame Pipe<│> Monsieur Lièvre, Jacques Taché, a donkey (Gabriel Chêne) and 6< an>[pantomime] sheep< 6Z>
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The accumulative and ekphrastic guide to a fallacious building: A heuristic architecture of found words … readymade propositions, parlance and bricolage for no such place in the middle, the furthest place from fixed points of view.
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'Your vellum dress–why?'Skin, the best parchment I could have!''And what are you going to write with? You haven't any dust or smit, and even if you had, you couldn't carry it about–you've got more than enough as it is.''Pyrography.'I have... more
'Your vellum dress–why?'Skin, the best parchment I could have!''And what are you going to write with? You haven't any dust or smit, and even if you had, you couldn't carry it about–you've got more than enough as it is.''Pyrography.'I have a fire and with a nib heated in the coals, I can write what we need, and it won't erase and I won't have anything extra to carry.'René took of his dress, turned it inside out and lay it flat across the donkey. He took the nib and made a wooden handle for it, like a penholder. The nib became hot.
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Doubtful… even during this long night; I will labour on the significance of these pen and ink drawings… my instruments and precision tools… they are capable of identifying and fixing a position through a conceptual visual language that... more
Doubtful… even during this long night; I will labour on the significance of these pen and ink drawings… my instruments and precision tools… they are capable of identifying and fixing a position through a conceptual visual language that incorporates the dates of the astrological signs.
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Ada and René confer,… she takes nothing for granted in this company, and is reassured that they have come to the right place, that they have [(not)] been led astray (a merry dance). Her own thoughts are [(marks)] on paper, in grease,... more
Ada and René confer,… she takes nothing for granted in this company, and is reassured that they have come to the right place, that they have [(not)] been led astray (a merry dance). Her own thoughts are [(marks)] on paper, in grease, pigment, graphite|| diamonds and a gum binder.
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René Hector:[pouring sand and ink into a glass]: That might be the one that's inscribed hickory barrage erased on the warm memory timing the middle of the filmic lice inappropriate ping pong the final tick tack for a dead toasted window... more
René Hector:[pouring sand and ink into a glass]: That might be the one that's inscribed hickory barrage erased on the warm memory timing the middle of the filmic lice inappropriate ping pong the final tick tack for a dead toasted window in their toupee on the right pink so plonk tinkle click rat a tat toe tomorrow blim blam flom trip pens scratch distance in dickory pencil and paper… is that you (?)
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Enter cautiously 93keys and René Hector: they join a taxi rank that has formed by the door; the keys click clack and René Hector adjusts his volume [+/-]. The keys fall silent and anticipate the reunion on a bank of flowers. René covers... more
Enter cautiously 93keys and René Hector: they join a taxi rank that has formed by the door; the keys click clack and René Hector adjusts his volume [+/-]. The keys fall silent and anticipate the reunion on a bank of flowers. René covers his eyes and nose and burns perfume before the scratches.
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… No language we've got flags of our own1… oblique conversation and a dialogue with ambiguity (herself) 2… ambiguity is the principal source of the inexhaustible richness of art. If we do not quickly tire of a picture or a piece of music,... more
… No language we've got flags of our own1… oblique conversation and a dialogue with ambiguity (herself) 2… ambiguity is the principal source of the inexhaustible richness of art. If we do not quickly tire of a picture or a piece of music, it is because we do not always see exactly the same pattern of coloured patches or hear the same pattern of tonal pitches.
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Triptych is a collaborative research group originated by Kingston University, Loughborough University and Dublin Institute of Technology. Practice and theory will be explored to contribute to knowledge of the act of drawing. This includes... more
Triptych is a collaborative research group originated by Kingston University, Loughborough University and Dublin Institute of Technology. Practice and theory will be explored to contribute to knowledge of the act of drawing. This includes investigation of diverse and contemporary aspects of the fine arts, design, built environment, pedagogy and theory on drawing.
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Dick Hebdige: I for one still find it refreshing to hear a distinguished Parisien intellectual like Lyotard using words like 'maybe','perhaps','what if'instead of seeking to perfect a 'line'defensible on all fronts or to lapse back into... more
Dick Hebdige: I for one still find it refreshing to hear a distinguished Parisien intellectual like Lyotard using words like 'maybe','perhaps','what if'instead of seeking to perfect a 'line'defensible on all fronts or to lapse back into the assured, disembodied accents of the professional academic….. 5
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Abstract: This article serves two purposes. First, it explains a review and development process for revising the application of assessment criteria for undergraduate art and design students in the United Kingdom. Second, it makes data... more
Abstract: This article serves two purposes. First, it explains a review and development process for revising the application of assessment criteria for undergraduate art and design students in the United Kingdom. Second, it makes data generated by the process available for use by others.
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This paper supports the position that interpretation in the visual and performing arts is fundamentally different from other disciplines.
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This paper supports the position that interpretation in the visual and performing arts is fundamentally different from other disciplines. It argues that 'interpretation' should not be constrained by the requirement of unambiguous... more
This paper supports the position that interpretation in the visual and performing arts is
fundamentally different from other disciplines. It argues that 'interpretation' should not be
constrained by the requirement of unambiguous language and that practice-based
research should strive to demonstrate its findings by methods most appropriate to the
mode of practice in question. More specifically it responds to the question: 'Are
unambiguous research outputs in the arts possible or desirable?' and argues that
ambiguous research outputs are both desirable and inevitable.
We have used this paper to discuss the problems associated with ambiguity in terms of
knowledge and practice and what it is, more precisely, that might be ambiguous. Plato's
dialogic device and the logic derived from fallacies of ambiguity provide models with
which to question the articulation and validation of outputs and whether they are
acceptable or not. Using fallacies of ambiguity, we explore the possibility that
expectations of practice-based research might rely on principles originating in
assumptions. In order to move methodologies in arts research forward, we advocate the
need to recognise, firstly, the different locations of any ambiguity involved and secondly,
where any assumptions deriving from fallacies occur. We distinguish between process
and product and argue that the application of key terms and the question needs to be
unambiguous; the research outputs do not.
If practice-based research, as an 'emerging theory of interpretation,' is going to establish
different and valid forms of knowledge, we suggest that it needs to acknowledge its
fundamentally different dynamic of doubt, differentiation and ambiguity. We consider the
attitudinal shift that understands the notion of knowledge as fluid and suggest evidence of
its application in examples of theoretical debate and practice. In order to argue the
desirability of ambiguous research outputs, we discuss possible justifications for
digression, simultaneity and the purposefulness of doubt. For example, in the wake of
Derrida's general project, which questions how we comprehend thought, meaning and
formulate what we call knowledge, we establish the legitimacy of ambiguity and doubt
and its potential in practice-based research.
To that end we promote methodologies that fully utilise the potential of practice. In
reconsidering the validity of research outputs, we must recognise what we assume as
essentially validating an ambiguous practice-output: that practice must contribute to
answering the question. If the research methodology follows a rigorous process, which
outlines the framework, context and language used, then ambiguous outputs have to be
seen as valid. We promote the hypothesis that art practice, as discursive expression and
defined by its manner of presentation, can display a manner of thinking that makes a
different, but equivalent, contribution to cultural debate (and to written analysis). Our
ultimate aim is to proceed from the convention of interpreting art, as merely illustrating
social, political and philosophical ideas discussed in other disciplines or situating practice
within some context, to investigating practice (images, objects and performances) as
provoking thought and discourse (philosophically, culturally, politically) and producing
forms of knowledge. We emphasise the potential in utilising practice and ambiguous
outputs to demonstrate thinking and assert that arts research should aim to demonstrate,
through the considered use of both practice and verbal articulation, the 'field' of
possibilities that is being questioned.
fundamentally different from other disciplines. It argues that 'interpretation' should not be
constrained by the requirement of unambiguous language and that practice-based
research should strive to demonstrate its findings by methods most appropriate to the
mode of practice in question. More specifically it responds to the question: 'Are
unambiguous research outputs in the arts possible or desirable?' and argues that
ambiguous research outputs are both desirable and inevitable.
We have used this paper to discuss the problems associated with ambiguity in terms of
knowledge and practice and what it is, more precisely, that might be ambiguous. Plato's
dialogic device and the logic derived from fallacies of ambiguity provide models with
which to question the articulation and validation of outputs and whether they are
acceptable or not. Using fallacies of ambiguity, we explore the possibility that
expectations of practice-based research might rely on principles originating in
assumptions. In order to move methodologies in arts research forward, we advocate the
need to recognise, firstly, the different locations of any ambiguity involved and secondly,
where any assumptions deriving from fallacies occur. We distinguish between process
and product and argue that the application of key terms and the question needs to be
unambiguous; the research outputs do not.
If practice-based research, as an 'emerging theory of interpretation,' is going to establish
different and valid forms of knowledge, we suggest that it needs to acknowledge its
fundamentally different dynamic of doubt, differentiation and ambiguity. We consider the
attitudinal shift that understands the notion of knowledge as fluid and suggest evidence of
its application in examples of theoretical debate and practice. In order to argue the
desirability of ambiguous research outputs, we discuss possible justifications for
digression, simultaneity and the purposefulness of doubt. For example, in the wake of
Derrida's general project, which questions how we comprehend thought, meaning and
formulate what we call knowledge, we establish the legitimacy of ambiguity and doubt
and its potential in practice-based research.
To that end we promote methodologies that fully utilise the potential of practice. In
reconsidering the validity of research outputs, we must recognise what we assume as
essentially validating an ambiguous practice-output: that practice must contribute to
answering the question. If the research methodology follows a rigorous process, which
outlines the framework, context and language used, then ambiguous outputs have to be
seen as valid. We promote the hypothesis that art practice, as discursive expression and
defined by its manner of presentation, can display a manner of thinking that makes a
different, but equivalent, contribution to cultural debate (and to written analysis). Our
ultimate aim is to proceed from the convention of interpreting art, as merely illustrating
social, political and philosophical ideas discussed in other disciplines or situating practice
within some context, to investigating practice (images, objects and performances) as
provoking thought and discourse (philosophically, culturally, politically) and producing
forms of knowledge. We emphasise the potential in utilising practice and ambiguous
outputs to demonstrate thinking and assert that arts research should aim to demonstrate,
through the considered use of both practice and verbal articulation, the 'field' of
possibilities that is being questioned.
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Three States [of dialogue]: You Me Us uncovers processes of generating drawings collaboratively, by considering what happens when the authors as individuals: You Me, draw together and become Us. The authors (humhyphenhum) undertake a... more
Three States [of dialogue]: You Me Us uncovers processes of generating
drawings collaboratively, by considering what happens when the authors
as individuals: You Me, draw together and become Us. The authors (humhyphenhum)
undertake a phenomenological investigation of the diverse types of
dialogue (conversational, drawn, discussion etc.) involved within several
of humhyphenhum’s drawings to explore their premise that there are three states, which we occupy when drawing together i.e. You Me Us. They question the use of dialogue as a means to expose the positions occupied during the generation of drawing/s. Using examples of their published drawings they refer to their developing hybrid methodology of Meaningful Play.
drawings collaboratively, by considering what happens when the authors
as individuals: You Me, draw together and become Us. The authors (humhyphenhum)
undertake a phenomenological investigation of the diverse types of
dialogue (conversational, drawn, discussion etc.) involved within several
of humhyphenhum’s drawings to explore their premise that there are three states, which we occupy when drawing together i.e. You Me Us. They question the use of dialogue as a means to expose the positions occupied during the generation of drawing/s. Using examples of their published drawings they refer to their developing hybrid methodology of Meaningful Play.
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This book chapter is from the book "Anchor" [Marmalade Publishers of Visual Theory]. The book consists of drawings, photographs and texts on the phenomenology of the idea and drawn reality of an Outline. The book includes works by the... more
This book chapter is from the book "Anchor" [Marmalade Publishers of Visual Theory]. The book consists of drawings, photographs and texts on the phenomenology of the idea and drawn reality of an Outline. The book includes works by the following artists: Andrew Hewish, Chantal Faust, Claude Heath, Deborah Harty, Gemma Anderson, Gordon Shrigley, Joe Graham, Kelly Chorpening, Paul McDevitt, Phil Sawdon, Steven Dickie, Thomas Falstad, Tom Morton and Virginia Verran.
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In this book authors and artists come together to explore the potential of what drawing in contemporary art theory and practice might become. In this follow-up to 2007's Drawing Now: Between the Lines of Contemporary Art, the editors of... more
In this book authors and artists come together to explore the potential of what drawing in contemporary art theory and practice might become. In this follow-up to 2007's Drawing Now: Between the Lines of Contemporary Art, the editors of TRACEY curate contemporary drawing within fine art practice from 2006 through to 2010.
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The thoughts presented here are a summary and distillation of a futile, despondent, illusionary, circular and often ironic project/journey of diary/journal 'drawings' by Phil Sawdon that are a response and reply to the question… what... more
The thoughts presented here are a summary and distillation of a futile, despondent, illusionary, circular and often ironic project/journey of diary/journal 'drawings' by Phil Sawdon that are a response and reply to the question… what shall I draw? And to the statement,'I don't know how to draw'. It is written from the perspective (predictable pun intended) of a person who makes pictures, sometimes using drawing, so they might therefore be called drawings.
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This is a short introduction style piece to a chapter in John Court's book An Idea of Performance A Idea of Art.
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Edited by Joe Graham, ANCHOR presents fourteen responses to the question: What is an outline? Given as a form of practice-led research formed across drawing, print, photography and text, ANCHOR questions the idea that the phenomenon of... more
Edited by Joe Graham, ANCHOR presents fourteen responses to the question: What is an outline? Given as a form of practice-led research formed across drawing, print, photography and text, ANCHOR questions the idea that the phenomenon of outline can be defined in the traditional sense. Instead, ANCHOR poses an alternative mode of reply: anchoring it according to the manner in which the phenomenon of outline 'appears'. Rather than present a singular answer that defines a narrow understanding, ANCHOR seeks to outline a wider interpretation across a range of contributions. With contributions from: Andrew Hewish, Chantal Faust, Claude Heath, Deborah Harty, Gemma Anderson, Gordon Shrigley, Kelly Chorpening, Paul McDevitt, Phil Sawdon, Steven Dickie, Thomas Falstad, Tom Morton and Virginia Verran. The book is available to purchase via the attached link.