An advanced studio course that treats drawing as a conceptual and spatial practice. What can constitute a drawing? Where are its limits? Are they material, conceptual, or both?
Students investigate drawing as an expanded practice that unfolds across multiple dimensions: Three-dimensional contexts—Installation, sculptural forms, and architectural situations where drawing operates spatially. Four-dimensional formats—Time-based animation, augmented reality, and virtual reality, where drawing extends into duration and immersive environments. Hybrid works—Projects that move fluidly across 2D, 3D, and 4D, challenging conventional boundaries between media.
Inspired by Sol LeWitt's proposition that "the idea becomes a machine that makes the art," the course foregrounds: Systems, rules, and instructions; Process-based thinking; Conceptual development over illustration and narrative.
The course contains three modules. Each module includes an Exercise (2–3 weeks), a Project (4–6 weeks), and a Homework (1–2 weeks). Students progress through a structured sequence that balances technical development and conceptual exploration: Short technical exercises designed to build specific skills and test processes; Longer, open-ended projects that require sustained inquiry; Self-directed responses to conceptual prompts and constraint sheets; Iterative refinement grounded in research and experimentation.
The emphasis is on designing a system or framework first, then allowing the work to emerge through that structure.
In each module, students are required to engage in and submit specific kinds of research, including: Contemporary artists working in expanded drawing; Experimental animation practices; Site-specific and installation-based work; Virtual and immersive environments; Interdisciplinary approaches incorporating architecture, sound, science, and environmental studies. Students develop strategies for generating, testing, and refining ideas, learning how to situate their work within broader artistic and cultural contexts.
Throughout the semester, students use multiple AI tools as analytical mirrors rather than image generators. They: Run "dumb prompt" experiments to identify clichés; Use LLMs to evaluate originality in relation to art history and entertainment; Archive findings as part of their documented process; Revise ideas until they fall below a defined predictability threshold. Use of generative AI is allowed and should be disclosed the same as other materials.
By the end of the semester, students will be able to:
Articulate multiple contemporary definitions of drawing (instruction, spatial intervention, time-based event, virtual environment) and critically discuss whether drawing's limits are material, conceptual, or situational.
Design and implement instruction-based drawing systems (scores, algorithms, rule sets) that can be enacted by others while retaining a coherent artistic voice.
Produce drawings that occupy physical space; create hybrid drawing-animations (10–20 seconds) combining analog and digital techniques deployed in AR contexts; use VR drawing applications to construct immersive spatial drawings and export them into 3D software.
Conduct targeted research on artists working in expanded drawing, experimental animation, and VR/AR art; use AI tools critically to run tests that reveal clichés and obtain creativity scores, revising ideas until they reach a self-determined threshold of originality.
Document and present the full process of each project during critiques; offer rigorous feedback addressing conceptual strength, formal clarity, and critical use of technology; articulate why particular media are most appropriate for specific concepts.
This module introduces drawing as a set of rules, scores, and procedures rather than a single image. The exercise trains students to write and test instruction-based drawings (constraints and allowances) that can be carried out by others and extend off the flat page into space. The homework asks students to refine these scores, run AI "dumb prompt" tests to identify clichés, and research artists working with instructions and process. The project is a delegated, non-2D drawing system that others enact, leaving a visible trace in space or over time. The critique focuses on authorship, clarity of instructions, and how effectively the system operates as an expanded drawing.
This module reframes drawing as a time-based event through experimental animation and augmented reality. The exercise covers hybrid analog/digital frame-by-frame techniques, including physical stop-motion with drawings and digital timelines. The homework has students prototype short tests, run AI "dumb prompt" experiments to spot generic animation tropes, and research contemporary drawing-animation and AR practices. The project is a 10–20 second drawing-driven animation, extended into an AR placement that may be site-specific or collaborative. The critique examines how successfully the work remains a drawing while functioning in 4D, and how AR context reshapes its meaning.
This module explores drawing as immersive environment and spatial research in VR. The exercise teaches VR drawing workflows, spatial composition in virtual space, and exporting VR drawings into 3D software for documentation. The homework asks students to test different VR drawing strategies, research VR art and a chosen outside discipline (e.g., audio, architecture, science), and use AI to pressure-test the originality of their concept. The project is a VR drawing or environment grounded in cross-disciplinary research and justified as something that can only fully exist in virtual space. The critique centers on conceptual rigor, the choice of VR as medium, and how convincingly the piece operates as a drawing beyond 2D.
This is a course I would be excited to develop and teach because it positions drawing as a contemporary research practice: students work at the edge of medium definitions, integrate emerging technologies critically, and learn to build projects that are conceptually robust, technically grounded, and historically aware.