From Sketch to Screen, from Scratch to Competence

Abstract

This article is about nature artists, design researchers and scientists collaborating in a research lab with scarce resources, where communication is doubled by an art installation of drawings. It aims to identify how drawings can be used in academically different environments in order to improve co-work processes. It focuses on the power of drawing to communicate across disciplines in the context of a science research project. Data was collected in a college South Korea for two years in 2015-2016.

The research question is: How do drawings influence the communication between colleagues, beyond their different backgrounds? This question seeks to examine how drawings can be used to enhance communication. Based on participants’ experiences, the case study is described according to five categories: 1) Concept & architecture communication with drawing, 2) Toilet design drawing, 3) Kindergarten students’ feedback by drawing, 4) Agar art drawings with algae, and 5) Computer drawings with media art drawings.

Qualitative methods were used within a grounded theory approach. The study included drawings along with the traditional grounded theory methods of interview and observation. Findings were presented as evidence of the value of drawing as a medium for communication (Adams, 2001). The premise here is that drawing makes you think more, learn from each other and more easily understand difficult information. This article offers a glimpse into how the evidence was generated, interpreted, and disseminated in order to illuminate the benefits of drawing, using some cases as examples. It identifies the current challenges experienced by schools and argues for a fresh impetus behind drawing within interdisciplinary team projects.