The Philosophical and Contemporary Significance of Drawing/Disegno

Abstract

The assertion that “drawing is the foundation of all plastic arts” was made and accepted in the Republic of China, but its justifications have never been made explicit. And does drawing still have fundamental significance today? We believe the answer is affirmative. This essay provides three explanations for why drawing was once the foundation of all plastic arts and why it remains significant to us today. Initially, during the Renaissance, Zucarro, understood drawing as a divine process, implying that the artistic method of drawing contains the process of God’s creation of the world. Second, in the discussion of drawings in Louvre, Derrida emphasizes that drawing originates from a blind experience and believes that drawing is a process from darkness to light, drawing has become the model closest to the creation of God in all art. This lends philosophical support to Zucarro’s position. Lastly, media philosopher Vilém Flusser described design as a deceptive transcendence of nature by technology. His comprehension of design is actually close to that of Vasari. Two contemporary philosophers, Derrida and Flusser, have elucidated the philosophical meaning of “drawing” from various elements, and their clarifications show us that drawing still has illuminating relevance for our current era.