Philosophical thinking and the discipline of Illustration?

Tim Vyner  Hutong, AWRS World Games.2009

 MOSZKOWICZ, J. (2012). How philosophical thinking can support the discipline of Illustration. VaroomLab [online] (1) p 45-58. Available at: http://www.varoom-mag.com/?p=4171. (Accessed 10 November 2016).

ZEEGAN, L. (2012). Where is the content, where is the comment? Creative Review [online].
Available at:https://www.creativereview.co.uk/where-is-the-content-where-is-the-comment-2/
[Accessed 5 December 2016]
 
 Moszkowicz is a senior Lecturer and Researcher in Visual Communication at Southampton Solent University. Her paper was delivered at the VaroomLab Illustration conference at Plymouth University, September 2012. In her paper, Moszkowicz argues for an explicit philosophical grounding to be embedded within illustration education. The intended audience are educators, particularly within the Art School system. It is written as a response to current thinking that illustration is insular and lacking any critical or perceptive engagement with the wider world (Zeegan 2012)
 Moszkowicz uses the philosophies of Paul Ricoeur and the work of Tim Vyner and Will Eisner, to draw attention to methodologies, such as phenomenology, which she believes are already implicit in Illustration practice.
Moszkowicz broadly explains the methodology of phenomenology and then uses Ricouer’s ideas of mimesis to dissect the work of Vyner. She concludes that by making philosophical study explicit, illustration students will be able to position themselves and their work within wider contexts, and re appraise the role and value of their discipline.
This is a useful article, which could encourage, through curriculum development, a deeper understanding of the processes and methodologies of illustration practice, and it’s transformative effect both on the reader and on the creator.