A Line of Movement: From Vegetative Development to Animation

The Line Between Observation Contexts

In this way, convoking here the 'line' as an element of visual acuity, in the paths of observation, in the processes of synthesis of information and in the study of movement, we seek its reflections in the filmic creation of animation cinema. In this sense, the “line” and Drawing, as fundamental elements of exploration, formation and understanding, seem to propose the establishment of more bridges between diverse and complementary areas of knowledge. And indeed, the notions of the visual perception of configuration, equilibrium, form, dynamics and expression through drawing, make the 'line' as an especially relevant entity throughout human development and apprehension.

Thus, from a perspective that highlights current cultural ambivalences and fertile spaces for the conjunction of visions, and challenges the exploration of the parameters that frame the current relationships between human beings and their natural environment, we highlight the relevant author Tim Ingold, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, and his recent work 'Lines: a brief history' (2016) in which, ....“Tim Ingold imagines a world in which everyone and everything consists of interwoven or interconnected lines and lays the foundations for a completely new discipline: the anthropological archaeology of the line.” (Ingold, 2016, p.i), and where he proposes the shaping of a vision conducive to a systematisation of the look through lines. In effect, Ingold's perspective is constituted by a highlighting of historical references, intertwined with permanent observations of an exploratory nature of the surrounding environment. His reflections, whether in the context of historical cultural paradigms or today, establish multiple relationships between disciplines such as archaeology, classical studies, art history, linguistics, psychology, musicology, philosophy and many others. Through them, the author, seeks to reveal the idea of how the line has affected our understanding and development. According to Ingold,“Yet it takes only a moment’s reflection to recognize that lines are everywhere.” (Ingold, 2016, p.1) and that human beings generate lines, for example by walking, talking, gesticulating, “It subsumes all these aspects of everyday human activity and, in so doing, brings them together into a single field of inquiry.” (Ingold, 2016, p.1)