This text comments on a drawing research project which uses dissection as a method for producing speculative architecture. The anatomical cut and the architectural section converge in an act of controlled violence upon the production of a speculative organic form. For Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and the series of dissection drawings presented here, flesh is not merely the material of the organic body; flesh is seen as both body and world, as the organic body is not external to the world but an integral part of it. By aligning the architectural section with anatomical and botanical dissections, this research positions architectural drawing as an agent of transformation rather than a mere documentation of form. In these drawings, the traditional architectural section-line is not an abstract geometrical tool but a compositional force – a method for opening up the question of form to speculation. The act of cutting produces openings during the practice of drawing and thus opportunities for various references to come together. Anatomical details intersect with botanical structures, architectural elements and mythological references, allowing the section line to simultaneously cut through matter, history and meaning. Engaging with Jacques Derrida’s notion of différance and Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of chiasm , this drawing research foregrounds the generative nature of the incision, revealing how drawing operates within a structure of overlapping ambiguity. This pursuit is a deliberate rejection of architecture’s tendency towards fixity and certainty, enabling observations through drawing and bringing to the surface the ever-shifting relationships between disciplines.

Tracing Echoes Between Tides – Movements 1 and 2 is comprised of a sound feedback recording and drawing that articulate the interconnected processes of listening and sounding at Long Reef headland in Sydney, Australia. This project report explores the embodied relationships between drawing, listening and sounding, and the significance of gesture as means of interacting with the surfaces of rocks and drawing supports. The recording captures reciprocal listening and sounding processes that enabled my bodily entanglement with the topographical features and atmospheric conditions of Long Reef. This engagement was further developed by listening to the recorded sounds and re-performing the gestures to produce marks on paper in a generative process that interpreted the timbre and quality of sound feedback, the trajectory of gestures and the surfaces of rock. By engaging with the spatial motility of sound and the expansive space of audition, drawing through listening became a distinct form of engagement with Long Reef.

‘A dialogue between sound and drawing, the body and its environment’ explores the relationship between sound and drawing through a responsive listening and drawing process. Investigating the impact of sound on the body, this article examines drawing not just as a means of translation and transcription, but also as a tool to deepen our understanding of bodily responses to noise and soundscapes. The paper contrasts two approaches to this practice: one in situ, responding to live environmental sounds, and one in the studio, using recorded sounds. By doing so, it questions which is more effective and might ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the body as a sonic vessel and a tool for exploring external and internal soundscapes.

This paper presents a novel cross-disciplinary project that explores lace structures as graphic scores, drawings and sound. A research fellowship at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia (2023), facilitated the project. Lace is framed as a spatial drawing inquiry through the theories of anthropologist Tim Ingold and philosophers Giles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. The research is situated in a community of artistic practice exploring installation sound works. Examples include artist Danica Maier and music composer Martin Scheuregger, whose research draws from the Nottingham Lace Archive and artists Stine Janvin and Cory Arcangel’s translation of traditional Norwegian knit patterns into conceptual music scores. Perforated holes in punch cards and lace prickings conceptually inform the inquiry. The patterns of space in a lace, much like silence in music, are a linking device influencing the textural sound of a recording. The graphic scores reference dots in punch cards to mark notes for vocal harmonies; the spaces (silence) between these notes reflect the tension of the lace structure. This paper aims to contribute to the field by sharing novel relationships that emerged when translating lace structures (drawing) into choral harmonies. The lace scores pay homage to the histories of women lace workers overlooked in producing this complex, delicate textile.

This paper documents the collaborative research project, Sound as Form / Percussive Drawing, by a collaborating percussionist and visual artist. The project, which culminated in a live performance at DRAW Space Gallery in Eora (Sydney) on 1 September 2023, is a unique exploration of the potential of percussive sound as a medium for drawing. Grounded in the hypothesis that there are parallels between these modalities based on similar attributes, the research sought to uncover the dynamic interplay between the improvisation of sound and the mindset of drawing. This paper describes the preparatory workshop, live performance, conceptual framework and project research outcomes. These include identifying alignment between sound and drawing characteristics and the importance of temporality and mindset in making and experiencing a sound work as a drawing.

Drawing and sounding both rely on bodily movement as a basis for artistic expression. Movement provides the underlying spark that brings both visual and sonic practices to life. As part of a long-term research project titled ‘Sonic Kinesthetic Forest’, this paper reflects on a collaborative exchange between three researchers who use moving, drawing and sounding practices to deepen human relationships with trees. Through this exchange, we developed embodied approaches to drawing using sound and movement prompts to unearth the essence of trees that may be less apparent through representational forms of visual expression. To support this research, our approach was applied within a university seminar called ‘Listening to Trees’ that invited landscape architecture students to tune into the actions, ephemeralities and temporalities of trees. With bodily movement as an underlying impulse, students engaged in a simultaneous performance of sound-making and charcoal drawing (sounding–drawing) to translate the hidden qualities of trees to paper. This research demonstrates that movement can stimulate a dynamic sounding–drawing process through which the sonic kinaesthetic essence of trees can be explored. As an alternative to visually focused representational or scenic views of trees and landscapes, this process aims to offer a multi-sensory mode of expression for engaging with the living world.