Tracing the minor gesture in painting: a shift from reflection to diffraction

ABSTRACT It is commonly assumed that we come to know the world best by observing it and that innovation is a human centred phenomenon. However, the objective of this review is to synthesise literature that emphasises the under examined, yet crucial, role that materials and tools exert in generating embodied perception; a diffractive pattern experienced as a passage of intensity sensed in the body of the painter when interacting with the material aspects of painting. Drawing on new materialist philosophies, recent creative practice research and the practices of three contemporary painters: Bracha Ettinger, Jude Rae and Paul Ching-Bor, this review examines how this complex phenomenon, known as the ‘minor gesture’, occurs in the painting process. It concludes that common painting strategies activate this phenomenon and demonstrates that innovation has its origin, not only in the intentional acts of the painter, but also in embodiment during the painting process.