The V&A has come under fire for banning sketching at its new exhibition of underwear. The museum says it’s to ease congestion as punters browse through 18th-century knickers and learn the history of the jockstrap . But as one Twitter user pointed out: ‘Drawing is an essential mode of looking.’
Sketching something close up and looking at it from afar are approached in quite different ways by the brain. When you see something familiar, the higher-order parts of the visual system quickly piece together information from the eyes to help you to understand what you’re looking at, whether it’s a whalebone corset or a designer lingerie set.
However, it’s easy to miss details this way, because the brain is already satisfied that it knows what it has seen, and so doesn’t look any closer to find out. When you draw something, you have to concentrate more closely on the lines, shapes and angles that form the basis of the visual system. In fact it’s easier to draw something accurately when it’s upside down, as the brain is less distracted by trying to figure out the entire object. Or by the frilly pants themselves.
Dr Daniel Glaser is director of Science Gallery at King’s College London
