Project

Drawing++ Workshop

Noam Debel and Bezalel Academy of Art & Design Jerusalem 

Drawing++ Workshop: using drawing as a means of understanding computation

In this workshop participants explore computational concepts such as encoding and decoding information, rule-based drawing, generative design, and algorithmic expression through the familiar lens of drawing.  

  • Can we teach coding without code? 
  • Can we teach computational thinking through drawing?

Participants are led through a series of group-based drawing exercises to help them understand computational thinking and see it as a form of expression. Through drawing activities, they understand and gain knowledge of how code works and what computation feels like. 

After each exercise, we walk through example demos of existing computational tools that utilize the methods participants just employed in their drawings. This solidifies the connection between using rule-based methods within art and design and using code and computational thinking for artistic expression and craft. 

So far this workshop has been taught at:

  • Festival of Learning (2022), at the MIT Media Lab
  • Between Worlds: How do we learn Art & Design in the Digital Age (2022), at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design Jerusalem