Experience 29: Noema

A noema is the object, or content, of a thought. But can we see the content of thought? Yes. Throughout history we’ve made many pictures of these ‘thought-objects’, often calling them ‘diagrams’. But the story of the diagram is quite different from the traditional history of art. Because they escape easy categorization, diagrams are everywhere, in corporate boardrooms and schools, in sports, dance and warfare, in art, philosophy, science, magic and everything in between. Instead of likeness, the diagram pursues liveliness; instead of making images, it stimulates the imagination.

For ESMoA’s next experience, ‘NOEMA’, the history of these unique ‘thought-drawings’ comes to life and is celebrated on a super-sized scale. In addition, Ritchie has added a selection of contemporary artists’ and scientists diagrams to complement the historical works on show.