Drawing and Imaging

Course Description

(as of January 2013)

This course is an introduction to the way meaning is constructed and communicated through visual images. Of primary importance is the way that we respond to the visual world and use our unique and personal perceptual, physical, and analytical abilities to bring two-dimensional works into being. In this intensive studio, students use drawing and digital imaging methods to explore the conceptual, aesthetic, and formal qualities that inform how concepts are expressed. Students investigate visual organization and representational and abstract forms, and engage with drawing from observation, photography, digital image creation, and the integration of a variety of media. The tools and methods explored in this course form an introductory platform that Parsons students will build upon in their upper-level courses.

The course will have a number of sections, each following a particular theme that informs the construction of form, identity, and meaning. These themes or keywords are as follows:

• People — focuses on the individual and collective body in relationship to personae, identity, communities, tribes, nations, etc.
• Places — focuses on sight and may include private, public, historical space, etc., in relationship to function and context.
• Things — focuses on the tangible object and may include found objects, crafted objects, mass-produced objects, artifacts, etc., in relationship to their form and function.
• Language — focuses on methods of communication including mark making, signs
  and symbols, etc., and how meaning is constructed and interpreted based on personal, cultural, and universal understanding and differences.

Spring 2012 Information Session

April 11, 2012