El dibujo como tecnología de mediación cognitiva: Pensamiento visual y construcción de conocimiento

Abstract

This article reexamines drawing beyond its representational function. It is conceived as a technology of cognitive mediation capable of translating complex phenomena into comprehensible visual structures. Drawing is not merely a matter of recording pre-existing ideas; it involves actively participating in their construction. This process occurs through the interaction between perception, gesture, and materiality. First, drawing is analyzed as a form of embodied visual thought. The act of drawing creates a space for cognitive exploration where conceptual relationships emerge. Second, scientific images enable the structuring of knowledge because they function as epistemological tools. Third, contemporary data visualization is interpreted as a technological expansion of graphic thinking. It is concluded that drawing, scientific diagrams, and data visualizations are part of the same tradition of visual cognitive mediation. Images function as tools for exploring, organizing, and communicating knowledge. Contemporary visualizations do not replace drawing but rather expand and transform its cognitive functions. In this way, drawing maintains its central role in the articulation of interdisciplinary knowledge between art, science, and technology.