From:
Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>
Date:
Thu, 6 Oct 2005 10:32:29 -0400
Subject:
Writing an artist's statement
On Oct 5, 2005, at 11:56 PM, sue wrote:
Quoted text begins. We are odd birds to most folks.
Basically a statement should give the viewer a glimpse of the person
whose art they are looking at.
Once they find the artist interesting via the statement, they are more
likely to take more care looking at the work itself.
to whet the appetite.
End of quote.
As a member of the viewing public, rather than as a maker of art, I
find it is always the other way around. Be it art in area museums, or
the many artists I am introduced to through this list, I only bother to
look at the Statement when the art speaks to me first. Usually the
statement then still falls very short, probably for all the reasons
that have been discussed before -as someone on this list once put it,
art is about other, and writing doesn't help. It is true though that
artists are seen as "odd birds", as somehow able to touch something the
rest of us can't reach. At least for me, this makes me want to see the
artist in his or her environment, working. Seeing pictures of Noguchi
at work somehow tells me more than if he had written flowery prose
about the pieces or his aims.
Norman Watts, Ph. D.
National Institutes of Health
50 South Drive, Rm. 1509
Bethesda, MD 20892-8025
Phone: (301) 402-3418
Fax: (301) 480-7629
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