Dialogue: Deborah Harty
The collaborative drawing with Deborah Harty began with a disambiguation of Harty’s contribution to Drawing Ambiguity: beside the lines of contemporary art: Trailing Temporal Trace (Harty, 2015).
Harty, Deborah, 2015. Trailing Temporal Trace. In: Sawdon and Marshall (eds), Drawing Ambiguity: beside the lines of contemporary art. I.B. Tauris, London, New York. Pp 54, 56, 58.
The contribution was edited into a series of extracts, shown below, supplemented with commentary from the investigators (Marshall and Sawdon).
DEBORAH HARTY
could drawing be said to be the ambiguity through which we know ourselves?
DEBORAH HARTY
across, through and within, towards, in and through, upon, through, between, in and through, across, through and on, from, by
DEBORAH HARTY
The background as such is necessarily ambiguous: we conceive of its presence although our attention can never be fully turned towards it, for it too will become the surface we mark through the trace of our attentions. In other words, the background will cease to be background once we objectify it through our attentions.
DEBORAH HARTY
the background has a surface
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
Is Passage (drawing) an example of hyperdrawing?
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
Space of ambiguity p59
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
Space and place of / in hyperdrawing. Is one of the spaces background? Does hyperdrawing have spaces? Yes!, dimensions: 2d, 3d, 4d
DEBORAH HARTY
I am here...
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
(outlines of awareness) – just like this.
DEBORAH HARTY
Through the mediation of our body we are situated, through the mind’s transcendence we are free within the space of our background. At any given moment the line we traverse may wander between, in and through these opposing points.
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
perforated boundaries and delineations
DEBORAH HARTY
The line of our lived situation, wandering through and in the space of the opposing marks of grounded transcendence is necessarily ambiguous.
DEBORAH HARTY
As such our experience is ambiguous.
DEBORAH HARTY
However, as the very essence of our existence, we are mostly unaware of this lived ambiguity. In everyday experience there is a composition to this lived reality: our surface lines and marks interweave creating a surface of lived coherence.
Ambiguity reveals its mark when we retrace and turn our attention to a specific line or mark. In an attempt to determine the line as it is traced we become aware of its ambiguous wandering. A line we are unable to mark or cross with a point of inbetweenness; a dissecting point between opposition. Instead, the complexity of the line is marked with shifting perceptions of attentiveness, marking the tension of a space of combination within the ambiguous line we are traversing. Bodily and spiritual intentions combine without equal or defined appearance. Consequently, we are unable to determine the exact point at which the opposing points meet, join or overlap. Ambiguity is the space of combination of marks, blots, blemishes and lines, which combine to form the rich surface of lived existence against the background of our world.
MARSHALL AND SAWDON
– so is there a point here that suggests ambiguity only becomes revealed on review, is ambiguity in the eye of the beholder?
DEBORAH HARTY
Ponty: the space of ambiguity
DEBORAH HARTY
In this trace drawing is ambiguity.
DEBORAH HARTY
In this trace drawing is ambiguity: the ambiguity of our lived experience as incarnate and spiritual beings.
The dialogue was then edited.
the background as such is necessarily ambiguous we conceive of its presence although our attention can never be fully turned towards it for it too will become the surface we mark through the trace of our attentions in other words the background will cease to be background once we objectify it through our attentions the background has a surface through the mediation of our body we are situated through the mind’s transcendence we are free within the space of our background at any given moment the line we traverse may wander between, in and through these opposing points perforated boundaries and delineations
…becomes…
Background
thebackgroundassuchisnecessarilyambiguousweconceiveofitspresencealthoughourattentioncanneverbefullyturned
towardsitforittoowillbecomethesurfacewemarkthroughthetraceofourattentionsinotherwordsthebackgroundwillcea
setobebackgroundonceweobjectifyitthroughourattentionsthebackgroundhasasurfacethroughthemediationofourbo
dywearesituatedthroughthemindstranscendencewearefreewithinthespaceofourbackgroundatanygivenmomenttheli
newetraversemaywanderbetweeninandthroughtheseopposingpointsperforatedboundariesanddelineations
Space
spaceofambiguityp59spaceandplaceofinhyperdrawingisoneofthespacesbackgrounddoeshyperdrawinghavespacesy
esdimensions2d3d4dIamhereoutlinesofawarenessjustlikethisthelineofourlivedsituationwanderingthroughandinthe
spaceoftheopposingmarksofgroundedtranscendenceisnecessarilyambiguouspontythespaceofambiguity
Prepositions
acrossthroughwithintowardsinthroughuponthroughbetweeninthroughacrossthroughonfromby
Experience
assuchourexperienceisambiguoushoweverastheveryessenceofourexistencewearemostlyunawareofthislivedambigui
tyineverydayexperiencethereisacompositiontothislivedrealityoursurfacelinesandmarksinterweavecreatingasurface
oflivedcoherence
Ambiguity
ambiguityrevealsitsmarkwhenweretraceandturnourattentiontoaspecificlineormarkinanattempttodeterminethelineasiti
stracedwebecomeawareofitsambiguouswanderingalineweareunabletomarkorcrosswithapointofinbetweennessadiss
ectingpointbetweenoppositioninsteadthecomplexityofthelineismarkedwithshiftingperceptionsofattentivenessmarking
thetensionofaspaceofcombinationwithintheambiguouslinewearetraversingbodilyandspiritualintentionscombinewitho
utequalordefinedappearanceconsequentlyweareunabletodeterminetheexactpointatwhichtheopposingpointsmeetjoin
oroverlapambiguityisthespaceofcombinationofmarksblotsblemishesandlineswhichcombinetoformtherichsurfaceofliv
edexistenceagainstthebackgroundofourworldsoisthereapointherethatsuggestsambiguityonlybecomesrevealedonrev
iewisambiguityintheeyeofthebeholder
Trace
inthistracedrawingisambiguityinthistracedrawingisambiguitytheambiguityofourlivedexperienceasincarnateandspiritu
albeings
A disambiguation of Trailing Temporal Trace (Harty, 2015). Our reading recognises emergent arguments of: ambiguity, background, experience, prepositions, space, trace… Drawing ambiguity, we know the background will become the surface, the trace of our attentions. A surface, the line may wander, wandering through grounded transcendence. Experience is ambiguous. In composition, marks interweave lived coherence. Our attention traced ambiguous wandering to mark the tension of a space. Ambiguity is the space of drawing… is ambiguity?
Digital drawing
Dimensions: variable
2017
Caption
could drawing be said to be the ambiguity through which we know ourselves?
The background as such is necessarily ambiguous: we conceive of its presence although our attention can never be fully turned towards it, for it too will become the surface we mark through the trace of our attentions. In other words, the background will cease to be background once we objectify it through our attentions.
the background has a surface
Through the mediation of our body we are situated, through the mind’s transcendence we are free within the space of our background. At any given moment the line we traverse may wander between, in and through these opposing points
The line of our lived situation, wandering through and in the space of the opposing marks of grounded transcendence is necessarily ambiguous.
As such our experience is ambiguous.
However, as the very essence of our existence, we are mostly unaware of this lived ambiguity. In everyday experience there is a composition to this lived reality: our surface lines and marks interweave creating a surface of lived coherence.
Ambiguity reveals its mark when we retrace and turn our attention to a specific line or mark. In an attempt to determine the line as it is traced we become aware of its ambiguous wandering. A line we are unable to mark or cross with a point of inbetweenness; a dissecting point between opposition. Instead, the complexity of the line is marked with shifting perceptions of attentiveness, marking the tension of a space of combination within the ambiguous line we are traversing. Bodily and spiritual intentions combine without equal or defined appearance. Consequently, we are unable to determine the exact point at which the opposing points meet, join or overlap. Ambiguity is the space of combination of marks, blots, blemishes and lines, which combine to form the rich surface of lived existence against the background of our world.
In this trace drawing is ambiguity: the ambiguity of our lived experience as incarnate and spiritual beings.
across, through and within, towards, in and through, upon, through, between, in and through, across, through and on, from, by
…becomes…
Drawing ambiguity, we know the background will become the surface, the trace of our attentions. A surface, the line may wander, wandering through grounded transcendence. Experience is ambiguous. In composition, marks interweave lived coherence. Our attention traced ambiguous wandering to mark the tension of a space. Ambiguity is the space of drawing… is ambiguity?