How to exhibit a time and space-based drawing and what is its narrative potential? The contributions here are an open reflection about the practice of drawing – in virtual space and on paper – by visual artist Pauline de Chalendar slowly shifting from a visual diary to a virtual gallery. The research traces the development of MIRAGES, a multimedia installation made with a 3D drawing device in VR, until it’s exhibition.
Once my ideas are clear enough on paper, I switch to the virtual place. There, it’s a completely other experience of space and time. No more small page and quick drawing; the empty space is endless and drawing gets deeper. What does it mean to move from the sketchbook to the immersive environment? I don’t believe that my 3D drawing is »just« a transcript of my drawing on paper. Can ideas be independent of technique? Can technique overwhelm the ideas?
Whatever the nature of the project, drawing on paper is the very first step. I draw in a quite small scale in a sketchbook, with a pencil or a black pen. At first, there’s a time when I let the pencil guide me without trying to stay close to my subject. Abstract organic patterns often result from this automatic drawing; faces, eyes or legs …. Then I begin to draw the subject that interests me several times. I do this