The Changing Drawing. From Technical Representation to Data Visualization as an Ethical Agent of Society

Abstract

This article investigates the contemporary transformation of drawing from a technical instrument of representation into an active device for the interpretation, mediation, and communication of complex information. Within the post-digital condition, where analog and digital dimensions converge into integrated environments of knowledge production, drawing no longer functions merely as a tool for reproducing reality but increasingly operates as a critical and interpretative practice. The study develops an interdisciplinary framework situated at the intersection of visual semiotics, visual studies, digital humanities, and the ethics of images, analysing how diagrams and data visualizations shape the perception and understanding of social, environmental, economic, and political phenomena.
Particular attention is devoted to the rhetorical dimension of visualization and to the ethical responsibility embedded in graphic languages. Through references to the theories of Jacques Bertin, Edward Tufte, Alberto Cairo, and Johanna Drucker, the article discusses how visual variables, selection processes, and representational strategies influence both the readability of information and the construction of meaning. Historical and contemporary case studies –from ISOTYPE to recent exhibitions such as Diagrams at Fondazione Prada and Inequalities at the Milan Triennale– demonstrate the central role of graphic sciences in fostering critical awareness and visual literacy.
The article argues that contemporary drawing possesses a form of agency: it mediates between informational complexity and human understanding while actively influencing social behaviours and decision-making processes. Consequently, the future of drawing lies in the development of an ʻethics of the sign,’ grounded in transparency, accessibility, and intellectual honesty, capable of contributing to a conscious and democratic visual citizenship.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.36.2026.4