The universal language of the line is essential in describing what travels with us along the river of time, says Ryerson University Professor Adam Kolodziej, who will use the storyboarding technique to demonstrate the structure of narrative communication in his upcoming lecture presented by Stong College.
“Our emotional dimension is expressed through our insatiable appetite for both verbal and visual communication with other human beings,” says Kolodziej. “One of the most important means of sharing our excitement is the storytelling hand gesture; what flows from the hand is the line that we unconsciously draw.”
“The Narrative Power of the Line: A Visualization Approach to Composition” will run from 1:30 to 3pm on Monday, May 4 in the Samuel Beckett Theatre, 112 Stong College, Keele campus.
Left: Adam Kolodziej
Sensitive, like a string of a musical instrument, to even the minutest vibration of emotion, the line allows not only visualization of creative intentions, but also preservations of past creations, Kolodziej says. “The emotional quality of the line prolongs the life of both animate and inanimate objects. In doing so it initiates and creates a legend around any designed object and defines the quintessence of its style. Thus the line gains the power of immortalizing the emotional content of our created environment.”
With a career spanning more than 30 years in architecture, fine arts and university teaching in Poland, Nigeria and Canada, Kolodziej will discuss how all writing – imaginative, humanistic or scientific – employs narrative to a great extent in relaying its information. He will demonstrate his own method of art creation, charcoal drawing, in which each element embodies a story and an emotive value.
Kolodziej has taught at the School of Interior Design in the Faculty of Communication & Design at Ryerson University since 2004. He has created designs for film, television and theatre. In 1987, he won the Pauline McGibbon Award for outstanding theatre design. He received Dora Award nominations for best set design in 1986 and 1987, and Gemini Award nominations for his film and television art direction in 1995 and 1996. In 2005, he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
In addition, he has architectural projects in Poland, Nigeria, Germany and England. He graduated with a master of science degree in architecture from the Krakow University of Technology and a master of fine arts from the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in the Faculty of Theatre, Film and Television Design.
Light refreshments will be provided.