Parallel Drawing -
8th Nov 2008

U:1 Studios '2nd Saturday' Event;
Peverall, Plymouth.

(900 x 600 mm)
paper, fish-tank magnets, pencils.

Pencils, attached to fish-tank magnets were positioned on both sides of the glass window to my studio space, with a sheet of paper in between on either side.

I gave people instructions to:
*Use only the pencils provided.
*Keep the magnets on the paper at all times.
*Only one person to draw at any one time.

I also asked people to think about landscape, scale and architecture. The idea was that the participants would contribute to a slowly developing landscape that would have a parallel on the opposite side. Kind of like the idea that there are parallel dimensions or universes.

One image was different to the other, the side people concentrated on mainly (side A) was higher in detail than the other (side B). Where the magnet on the opposite side to the person drawing simply dragged along, a lot of minute detail was lost in the parallel copy. Some of the drawn objects were completely missing from one side to the other. People tried to balance things out by drawing from side B, so there is lack of detail in either drawing.

It's like there is a time delay between the two scenes or perhaps one is already more formed than the other.

The outcome of this also suggests the parallels of expectation and reality. What you hope or imagine to see or feel often doesn't happen in the way you expect. This can be good or bad of course.