Line Let Loose is a sustained investigation of the evolution of scribbling, doodling and automatic drawing. David Maclagan shows that each of these marginal forms of drawing has its own history, which includes spiritualism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and psychedelic art. With reference to Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock, Joan Miro, Cy Twombly and Sol LeWitt, as well as many lesser-known or anonymous artists, he traces the links between them and a pervasive notion concerning the spontaneous and 'unconscious' creation of forms in art. He suggests that the original novelty of these unconventional drawing processes has begun to fade, and he explores their new situation
in our modern digital culture.