Examples of art writing: Part 1
Exhibit A: Quote from a statement by an artist who will remain anonymous:
“Many of the patterns seem to reference specific modes of abstraction typically associated with High Modernism…the site of the pattern, is banal and nothing more than ephemera—transitory, mechanical, mass-produced, and not intended to be retained. I am currently interested in the idea that when removed from their common, everyday usage these patterns could be mistaken for serious critical investigations of abstraction. Through works ranging from traditional drawings and paintings, to meticulous, serial installation, the displacement of the patterns is one of mindful fragmentation, redirecting the attention focused on the pattern away from [its] context of to reposition it in the rubric of abstraction.”
Exhibit B: A well-known Banksy quote:
“The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
I don’t know about you, but both of these combined make me want to grab a spray can and hit the streets.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
My brain goes to static when I read things like “reposition it in the rubric of abstraction”.
I had to come up with an artist statement for a show recently. I put it off for weeks and the whole time thought, why the hell is this necessary. Just Why. Doesn’t feel necessary, feels like writing about your work doesn’t exactly run in a parallel manner with producing visually. Especially with art, less so with design. If my work needs an explanation in writing, isn’t that a weakness or a failure to convey what I want to in my chosen medium? I almost feel that way too when work depends on its title in order for the audience to “get it”.
So my statement ended up being this ponderous thing about process being more important to me than the final piece. Which do mean but felt it was less relevant with the paintings I made. Fortunately, I didn’t see any binder at the opening.
February 5th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Very well put. I get the same sort of block when I try to write about what I do, for the exact same reason. And the fact that most of this sort of statement writing is so…bad, but still seen as perfectly acceptable, is just weird to me.