Impact7

Emma Febvre-Richards

Country

NZL

Affliliation

Massey University, New Zealand

Biography

Emma Febvre-Richards is an artist based in Wellington, New Zealand. She studied in England and gained her Masters of Fine Arts in France. Her work has been exhibited in New Zealand, Europe and the Pacific. She is the founder of the multi-disciplined research group SubArt (architecture, textile design, fashion, fine art and industrial design), which investigates the borders between art and design. Her current work explores the multifaceted manifestations of the suburban condition through cross-fertilization of design and fine art and transforming use of technology in the fine art context. Febvre-Richards is a lecturer in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington.

Paper

Drawing and technology: the return of humanness

Abstract

In an era of endlessly faster and more mobile technology which prefaces constant connection through ever more ingenious devices, the neo- Luddite stands as a resistant force to so-called high-technology networking. Leading the charge against, emphasizing the work of the hand, the individual and the unpredictable nature of reality, the neo-luddite offers a compelling counter-point to the mechanistic view of the world and in particular the domination of science and efficiency over our senses.
Yet few seem to connect the neo-luddite resurgence to drawing which has in recent years found a new prominence and dynamism in the international art world. Is this because drawing as a technology is appealing because of its vibrant and experimental qualities or is it a means of delimiting or tempering technology?

This paper will examine key issues surrounding technology, reproduction and drawing since the invention of the printing press to contemporary times and in particular drawings political and social agency as a key mode of art practice in the Twenty-First Century. It will investigate new definitions of drawing and specific systems and mediums it employs. This paper will argue that the 'renaissance' of drawing functions in part to build new avenues of dialogue in the twenty-first century. Crucially, it is also a powerful political message against our dependence on the machine.

Date

Friday 30 September

Session

11:00am - 12.30pm

Speaking

11:50am

Email

E.R.Febvre-Richards@massey.ac.nz

Website