| Summary: | This thesis identifies, analyzes and develops the notion of a system as a model for artistic practice and intervention. First developed within General Systems Theory and concepts associated with Cybernetics, the idea of an 'open system' is based on the premise that we should not be concerned with how parts of a system act, as isolated events, but on the multiple behaviour and responses of a system as a 'whole'. The 'open system' model therefore challenges the reduction of a system to its component parts, as in the reductive methods of science, as well as the fixed state of a 'closed systems' model. In support of a theory of 'open systems' both General Systems Theory and Cybernetics developed an expansive lexicon of key concepts and models to augment the constitutes of a system, regardless of any conceptual or material constraint. These concepts and models are explored here in particular relation to the visual modelling of the diagram, its methods of cognition and the creative and social use it might serve. The diagram as a visual tool and diagramming strategy is re-considered as an 'open system' that challenges contemporary drawing practice by providing an alternative and tactical approach to site intervention, studio practice and public interaction. The thesis argues that the concept of 'variables' within dynamic open systems, which produce change, are temperamental, scattered or unknown - can inform contemporary drawing through a recursive practice operating at the intersections of philosophical, scientific and creative methodologies in order to open a new framework for creative practice.
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