Subatomic iconographer7/2/2023 ![]() ![]() It is important not to get bogged down trying to tease out the formal and functional distinctions of these various formats, but rather to settle on just one, far more fundamental distinction-the distinction between those graphical structures that merely display information and those that prompt active interactions with the information from the user/viewer. ![]() But for the purposes of this project, any of these graphical structures might or might not be considered a diagram, depending on how it is used. A few of these graphical forms go back many centuries and many are of much more recent origin. Just to name a few, there are diagrams, maps, architectural plans, scatter plots, calendars, graphs, tables, timelines, schematics, network diagrams, bar charts, pie charts, flow charts, Venn diagrams, genealogical trees, trees of knowledge, Portolano charts, area-based visualizations, topic maps, node-link diagrams, web, lattice and matrix formats, spatial projections, directed graphs, docubursts, and so many more. I would even argue that the diagram’s very structure of knowledge and perception has become a privileged mode of visualizing the networked life world of the modern era.Īt the outset, I feel it is important to disentangle the term, diagram, from the plethora of graphical forms used throughout multiple domains for information visualization and analysis. And now we find ourselves full on into the information age where we are inundated with diagrammatic displays, as even a brief swipe through a stocks app will make abundantly clear. Diagrams have stepped into the breach where the descriptive capacities of conventional language and pictures have proven woefully insufficient. Certainly since the latter 18th century we have witnessed an explosion of diagrams in response to the rapid advances of technology and scientific discoveries that began to outstrip the human senses and their ability to grasp ever higher levels of complexity. From the ancient Greeks onward, diagrams have served as an important component in the exposition of highly abstract mathematical calculations. ![]() Diagrams are regularly deployed in both the making of and the analysis of artworks and literature. For example, we are “diagramming” whenever we scribble a few lines and notations on a sheet of paper to give directions. I urge anyone interested in taking a deeper dive into this subject to go directly to these sources listed in the bibliography.ĭelving into the history of diagrams, I was struck by how many ways they can be defined or described, as they have been used for such varied purposes in a wide range of knowledge domains. ![]() I wish to begin by acknowledging that I have drawn from numerous sources in my quest to understand diagrams in general and to distinguish diagrammatical thinking from other modes of representing thoughts, feelings, and processes. What follows is only a cursory overview of the long history and evolution of diagrams. But before we begin to connect diagrams with artworks, we need to understand what diagrams actually are, and more crucially, what we mean by diagrammatic thinking. I am not claiming that all or even the majority of these artworks look like conventional diagrams, but rather that the way these artists think about and develop their artwork mirrors critical features of diagrammatic processes. In this ongoing project, The Expanded Diagram, I am making the argument that, for some artists, diagrammatic thinking aptly describes a significant aspect of their creative process-more cogently than the boatloads of art labels and art categories currently on offer. ![]()
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