Free Saturday Workshop #1 — Distorting Improvement with Conform Cox

In this series of three Saturday workshops, we’ll be drawing and reimagining, drawing inspiration from the theme of the exhibition Draw Withdraw Redraw. Each workshop will centre on a question relating to improving our current lives. In the first workshop, we’ll reimagine the human form; next, we’ll reimagine your own living space; and in the third workshop, we’ll turn our attention to Rotterdam.

What would you like to improve, and can you think beyond the current frameworks of life and society? What is an important issue for you, and how might you redesign the world to address it? How can you visualise your unique ideas? Illustrator Conform Cox will guide you through these questions and also help you with any queries you may have about drawing. In this way, during each workshop, you’ll build a part of your own alternative world, constructed layer by layer. You can also take part in just one workshop.

The first workshop will be during the Festive Opening: Holiday Passport.

Workshop 1

The participants will create drawings based on the theme ‘Distorting Improvement’. They will be given philosophical questions to work with: what would you change about a person to make the world a better place, and what would that look like? They will then be asked to visualise this philosophical question by drawing one or more characters. What does that less-than-ideal trait or limb look like, or do you actually need an extra limb? People are encouraged to pose for one another to help create a character. They are challenged to depict things that you wouldn’t normally see, but might only be able to hear or put into words. For the younger participants, this question is less complicated and will focus very much on outward appearances.

Finally, the characters will be cut out and a group photo will be taken of all the drawings together.