Aesthetics and Techniques of Lines between Drawing and Writing

organized by Marzia Faietti and Gerhard Wolf

Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut

Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi

Lines and lineaments are fundamental concerns in many cultures. They can be constitutive elements of pictorial and scriptural systems, as well as of a combination of both. Lines can separate or intersect, they can connect or link. Drawn, inscribed, incised or woven into a surface they create or articulate space, denote orientation or movement, they present or represent, they signify or carry out meaning, they cancel or cross out. Lines are, geometrically spoken, one-dimensional, but in scripture and drawing they are material as is the ground on or in which they appear. In this sense one can speak of techniques of "making lines" which condition the aesthetics of lineaments as much as the latter contribute to the invention and transformation of such techniques. Under these premises, the conference will discuss the differences, similarities and open borders between writing and drawing, their techniques and aesthetics, especially in European, Islamic and East Asian cultures. Given that lines play an important but not exclusive role in this relationship, papers could also discuss the limits of linear systems or explore alternative models as for example the transition between line, brush stroke, mark or spot. The major aim of the conference is to envisage a dialogue among specialists of different cultures and academic fields, questioning the role of lines in an intercultural perspective, from an historical as well as theoretical point of view.