Eye (re)drawing historical ship graffiti: Tracing ex-voto drawings with eye-tracking technology

Abstract

This paper describes the salient features of a hybrid drawing process driven by techno-human relations. The project consists in the tracing of historical ship graffiti with my eye movements while wearing a contemporary eye-tracking headset. It forms part of my ongoing artistic practice of drawing with my eyes with an eye-tracking device, adapting and adopting an attitude of drawing-with the technology. The practice takes shape by means of an interdisciplinary approach looking at the transformative capacities of human–nonhuman relations, as the agency of off-the-shelf technology contributes to the drawing process. Eye-tracking data is developed into virtual drawings and consequently pen-plotted onto slabs of globigerina limestone. The project specifically looks at ship graffiti found on the facades of wayside chapels on the Mediterranean island of Malta, where the tradition of etching ships in stone as ex-votos can possibly date back to the 1500s. Thus, the outcome of the project bridges historical imagery with contemporary drawing, resulting in a multifaceted interpretation through a play on words while converging interdisciplinary dialogues.