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Press1968.Printedin GreatBritain
Vol. 1, pp. 3-16. Pergamon
Leonardo,
STRUCTURES
DRAWINGS AS
AND
NON-STRUCTURES
L.Alcopley*
Abstract-A drawing is defined as an image in which the compositionof lines
predominates over considerations of color. Drawings are conceived by the
author as structures and non-structures, although any drawing is bound to be
structural. In the drawings as non-structures, the elements of the unexpected,
accidental, and automaticplay a dominantrole. In a drawing as a structure,
any line must be deeplyfelt, and drawn on a surface with the conviction that
it is necessary where it is placed. By surface is meant the entirepicture surface
whichcannotbe dividedor separatedto showmerelyanyportion coveredby lines.
These drawings are considered as structures, because in them there is the
arrangementof all theparts to the whole. The structuredrawingsare discussed
underthefollowing seven groupings:structuresof things (includinglandscapes),
structures of space, structures of the spoken, structures of signs, structures
drawn to poems, dimension of time structuresand structuresdrawn to music.
The significance of size and of proportions in drawings as structures and
non-structuresis stressed, and special consideration is given to the largeness
inherent in certain small-sized and even tiny-sized works of art. The author's
minimum drawings are discussed both as single pictures and as assemblages.
Three-dimensionalityis shown not merely in superimposed drawings, but
also in the author's vertical sky-scraperpictures and his horizontalpromenade
pictures, in which the dimension of time enters in the viewing of the picture
by the beholder. The author emphasizes that his pictures, both drawings and
paintings, differfundamentallyfrom the pictures by artists of ancient China
and Japan, because of the entirelydifferentconceptionsof space.
An attempt is made to correlate today's world view of science as a product
of Western thought and the author's letterless writing. The latter is not any
form of calligraphyeither practiced in the orient or in abstractionsby modern
artists-of the Westand East-who still suggest some definitemeaningof letters,
ideograms,or hieroglyphs.
I. INTRODUCTION
My drawings may be classified as structuresand nonstructures. The former are conceived as compositions or arrangements of lines, while for the latter
I make no such attempts.
In the non-structure drawing, the element of the
unexpected and of the accidental plays a dominating
role. As in life, the accidental seems to come from
nowhere, but has the peculiar strength in pointing
to a new direction or forcing itself upon one.
The automatic, which is not identical with the
accidental, is done-as the term implies-without
conscious thought, and seems to be essential in
many non-structure drawings.
The elements of the unexpected, the accidental
and the automatic enter to some extent, into the
process of drawing structures, but these elements
*Artist living at 50 CentralPark West, New York, N.Y.
1967).
10023,U.S.A.(Received10 September
L. Alcopley
DRAWINGS AS STRUCTURES
he was drawing. Still, when I look at his extraordinary paintings, they do not change into drawings
as I, an admiringbeholder of his paintings, see them.
They are rich in immensely varied ideas, carefully
composed on the superb spatial conceptions, and
painted in harmonies of color as pure structures.
When I look at many of Cezanne's drawings, I
can be disturbed, even pained, by his often meaningless use of lines, which detract from the image.
I never could understand Cezanne's failure to form
in his drawings what he so incomparably succeeded
and advocated in his paintings.
Thus, to me, a line in a drawing as a structure
has to be meaningful. By this I understand that
its presence must be deeply felt, and drawn on a
surface with the conviction that any line placed in
the drawing is necessary where it is placed. Each
line has to be related to another one or to many
others. This arrangement has to be further varied
by the thickness of the lines, their lengths, directions,
whether and how they are curved, their thinning or
broadening, etc. Any of my drawings as a structure
is only successful to me, if it has these attributes.
It is imperative that a most delicate balance between
the lines must be maintained, regardless whether
the lines are bold or fine or of varying intensity
and density. These drawings are structures, because in them there is the arrangement of all
the parts to the whole. Each of these drawings,however fluid it may appear, is constructed. The
possibilities, relating the parts to a whole, are
endless.
In writing about certain of my drawings in 1962,
I introduced for them the term structures [1].
I grouped the four kinds of my pictures as structures
of things (landscapes), structuresof space, structures
of the spoken, and structures of signs. To these
different kinds of structures, I am adding the
following: dimension of time structures, structures
drawnto music, and structuresdrawnto poems.
The above groupings do not stem from a desire
to pigeonhole the structures I am preoccupied with
in my drawings. Some of them may well be placed
in more than one of these arbitrary groupings.
They are offered merely for orientation.
By 'surface' in my drawings as structuresis meant
the entire picture surface, regardless of size, dimensions or materials onto which lines are drawn.
The entire surface needs to be viewed for all those
drawings, which I call structures. This surface
cannot be divided or separated for the purpose to
show merely the portion(s) or area(s) covered by
lines. Any portion, when separated from the whole,
ceases to be the drawing formed as a structure,
even though it may contain most or all of the lines
drawn in the particular picture.
1. Structuresof things
The structuresof things have a special position in
my drawings as structures because they are representational pictures. They are abstracted directly
during my viewing a landscape, a figure, a flower,
etc. Although the drawing may contain comparably
L. Alcopley
few lines, each line is drawn often after long reflection and is meant to give, together with the
other lines, a likeness of what is represented. It is
not rare that the beholder could then actually
recognise the particular landscape, architectural
edifice, the person portrayed, etc. (Fig. 1).
In the structures of things, I attempt to make
visible what, to my feeling and way of seeing, is
essential for the pictorial representation. I would
see, as anyone else would, many lines in whatever
is in front of me. It then becomes as essential for
the representationto consider which of the observed
lines to delete and which of them to retain. Thus,
the areas of the surface uncovered by the lines of
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Fig. 4. Structure drawn to poem by Robert Lowell, Prometheus Bound derivedfrom Aeschylus.
'Prometheus:Now that I am chained here, I suppose I am almost free at last' [7] 18-7x
25-2cm, 14thJuly 1967.
because the latter are placed on paper with instantaneous rapidity, as if the lines drawn chase continuously after the sounds, and just about manage
to catch up with them.
The structures drawn to music, although produced similarly to the structures of the spoken,
are more akin to those drawn to poems. Both
L. Alcopley
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18 October, 1965.
has one at all, it is rather vague. Yet these nonstructure drawings may have a certain interest to
the viewer.
As drawings they can be quite incomplete and
to some extent non-formed. They may simulate
sounds in a musical composition without simulating
their organizedform. They may be the drawn echoes
of the sounds, which they follow immediately by
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Fig. 7. Enlargedminimumdrawing,1949,[10].
I had sufficient time to reflect about the sense of
the thoughts in the spoken words, and, therefore,
do not 'record' the movements of the sounds of
spoken words. I could probably make drawings
as non-structures of the spoken word while listening
to words of languages which I do not know.
I have practiced drawings as non-structures in
many other ways, including those which were meant
to be representations, and I employed different
techniques.
I am not quite clear whether any of my nonstructure drawings can be entirely 'formless', and
12
L. Alcopley
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[facingp. 14]
REFERENCES
1. L.Alcopley, Alcopley-Listening to Heidegger andHisamatsu. Reproductions of structures
2.
15
L. Alcopley, Little Promenades With My Friend Will, Fourteen lithographs (New York:
5.
EduardTrier, Kalligraphien und Wolkenkratzerbilder, Frankf. Allg. Zt. No. 200,30 (Aug.
1957).
6. Anon., Exhibitionof the Group 'Escape',Generalview, paintingon linen by Alcopley,
7.
8.
1954).
Terrestres,1954;Dutch edition,Amsterdam:Meijer-Wormerveer
No. 2.
15. Karl Jaspers, The Great Philosophers, Vol. II, The Original Thinkers, Hannah Arendt,
1956).
17. A. L. Copley, On the Validity of Classical Fluid Mechanics in Biorheology, in: Symposium
on Biorheology, A. L. Copley, Ed. (New York: John Wiley and Interscience, 1965).
18. L. Alcopley, Structures of Travels, Seven lithographs including a poem-picture, Edizioni
del Grattacielo, Milano, Stamperia d'Arte 'I1Torchio', (1962).
16
L. Alcopley
Dessins en tante que Structureset Non-Structures
Resum--Un dessin se definit comme une image dans laquelle la disposition de lignes
l'emporte sur les considerations de couleur. Les dessins ont ete con,us par l'auteur
en tant que structures et non-structures,bien que tout dessin soit obligatoirement
structure. Pour ce qui est des dessins consideres comme non-structures,les elements
tels que l'inattendu, l'accidentel et l'automatisme jouent un role essentiel. Dans un
dessin considere'comme structure chaque ligne doit avoir ete profondement sentie et
dessinee sur une surface avec la conviction qu'elle doit s'y trouver necessairement
ou elle est placee. On entend par surface la totalite du tableau qui ne saurait etre
divisee ou separee du reste, afin de ne montrer qu'une portion de 1'ensemblerecouverte
de lignes.
Ces dessins sont dits en tant que structures parce qu'en ce qui les concerne il y a
correlation entre toutes ses parties et l'ensemble. Les dessins en tant que structures
ont ete classes dans les sept groupes ci-apres: structuresd'objets (y compris les paysages), structures de l'espace, structures de la parole, structures de signes, structures
dessinees d'apres des poemes, dimension dessinees d'apres structure temporelle, et
structuresde la musique.
La significationde la dimension et des proportions des dessins consideres en tant que
structureset non-structuresest soulignee mise en evidence tandis qu'une consideration
particuliere est accordee a l'espace inherent a certaines oeuvres d'art de petites ou tres
petites dimensions. Les minimumdessins de l'auteur sont consideres aussi bien en tant
qu'oeuvres isolees que comme des ensembles.
La tri-dimensionalite est visible non seulement dans les dessins superposes mais
aussi bien dans les tableaux gratte-ciels, verticales de l'auteur que ses tableaux
panoramiqueshorizontales dans lesquels la dimension temporelle entre dans la vision
de l'oeuvre par le spectateur. L'auteur insiste sur le fait que ses oeuvres, a la fois des
dessins que ses peintures, sont essentiellement diff6rents de celles realisees par les artistes de l'ancienne Chine et du Japon, en raison de leur conception entierement
diff6rentede l'espace.
II a tente de faire un rapprochemententre la conception universelle, moderne de la
science comme un produit de la pensee occidentale et l'ecrituresans lettres de l'auteur.
Cette ecriture n'est pas une forme quelconque de la calligraphie pratiquee en Orient
ou des abstractions realisees par les artistes modernes-en Occident ou en Orientqui suggerent encore une signification definie des lettres, des ideogrammes ou des
hieroglyphes.