Writing a Successful Artist Statement: Key Questions, Tips, and Resources, Lecture notes of Art

Download Writing a Successful Artist Statement: Key Questions, Tips, and Resources and more Lecture notes Art in PDF only on Docsity! ARTIST STATEMENT HOW DO I WRITE SUCCESSFULLY ABOUT MY ART PRACTICE? INITIAL QUESTIONS What is an Artist Statement? An artist statement is piece of writing by you that helps the audience access or understand your artistic work. It is written in the first person, while artist bios are written in the third person. Both represent you as an artist, even while you are not there. Both are not meant to come to you right away and it will take some time, revisions, and fine tuning to have a finished written product. They may include sources, ideas, and materials in your current practice. When is an Artist Statement Used? Exhibition purposes, grant applications, teaching position applications, fellowships, and more. Also sometimes used on websites. It directs your audience to the concerns you consider to be import- ant in the work, and helps publicists, curators, and critics write about the work. Writing about your work may also be integral to your creative process. You may be writing about as specific work, group of works or your body of work developed over a considerable period of time. WRITING AN ARTIST STATEMENT Consider the Following: - What are the key ideas, issues, struggles, goals within your work or studio practice? - Thematic focus of work (goal, purpose, intention, exploration). Really important to give the reader a visual and to set your work in time and space. - Content of work (themes, ideas, subject matter). - Influences (cultural, historical, theoretical, art historical, personal, biographical) - Form of work (materials, processes, tradition of work –e.g. abstract, figurative, etc.) - Describe your process and what the work looks/sounds like, etc Side Note: Keep your artist statement on file to update as you go. It will evolve over time. 1 2 ARTIST STATEMENT Side Note: Writing an artist statement often will prompt your mind to other ideas or think about your work in new ways. - Who is your audience? It helps to have someone in mind when you are writing. - How can you clarify what your work is about, how can you make your work easier to understand? - If you are exploring, uncertain, or struggling to nd the meaning of your work, suitable media, a focus, etc. en SAY IT! REMEMBER: If you are unsure of what your work is about, your readers will be as well. Throughout the Process Remember In the Beginning... - Have a friend interview you and ask ques- tions about your work. Answer the questions, audio record the conversation or take notes. - Have someone who doesn’t know your work ask you questions. - Read the statements or writings of artists with whom you have an afinity. It’s easy to nd these on line. - Read what has been written about artists with whom you have an afinity. While you’re writing... - Write in the first person and avoid “art speak” and jargon. - Avoid editorializing or over-explaining. - Keep your statement concise, succinct, straightforward and to the point. One page is more than enough. - Speak as honestly and straight forward as you can. Be authentic! - Edit out phrases that are not speci c to your work. There are experiences that are common to almost every artist that, although they may be powerful and profound for each individ- ual come across as ordinary or common to the viewer. Make the reader want to look at, and know more about your work. - Your statement should be more than just a description of your process. - Use quotes ONLY when they are absolutely relevant to your work. When you’re finished... - Have a faculty member read your statement while looking at the work. - Write! Not just statements about your work. Keep a journal. Keep notes. Observations. Thoughts. Reflections. Critiques. Take notes at lectures. Take notes of what you see at exhibitions or presen- tations of work. Keep the writing going and integrate it into your life and practice. This will make all of this so much easier! Enjoy the process! LISTS! A possible approach You may want to create lists! One approach is to list the nouns, verbs and adjectives that relate to your work. Then create sentences. This will refresh the way to talk about your work and open up your vocabulary. After creating these lists or notes, formalize and organize your material. Begin with a thesis statement and continue to build statement. Most statements are no longer than one page, 1-3 paragraphs long.