Writing about art

Always good to read the Guardian on a weekend. Not only was there an interesting article by Charlotte Higgins on 'Walls are Talking' the wallpaper and art show opening this weekend at the Whitworth in Manchester, but there was an interesting aside by Jon Canter on 'artspeak'. All of us have to write about our work at some time or other and it's never easy. Anyway this is the article in full as copied from the Guardian.

Artspeak? It's complicated
Jon Canter
If an artist's work is difficult, you might think those writing about it would want to make it more accessible. If only.
On 14 March 1888, Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo about his latest canvas: "It is a drawbridge with a little cart going over it, outlined against a blue sky – the river blue as well, the banks orange coloured with green grass and a group of women washing linen in smocks and multicoloured caps."
Dear, oh dear. Little cart, blue sky, green grass, multicoloured caps: simplistic or what? When you go to The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters, currently on show at the Royal Academy, don't bother with His Letters. Vincent, a word in your unbandaged shell-like – this is the way you write about art. It comes from the online catalogue for Esther Shalev-Gerz's exhibition, opening next week at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. "Over three decades, Esther Shalev-Gerz has consistently performed a process of unravelling particularities." Now that's more like it. It certainly beats: "Over three decades, Esther Shalev-Gerz has consistently performed a process of painting a drawbridge with a little cart going over it."
I've never unravelled a particularity, or even ravelled one, which many consider the first stage in the particularity-unravelling process. But I have, for nearly 20 years, been married to a painter, so I appreciate the agony. Not the agony of painting but the far greater torture of writing about paintings, in order to attract people to see them. Art for art's sake? Forget it. What you need is artspeak for artspeak's sake. Let's return to that catalogue: "Shalev-Gerz mines the personal in order to address and interrogate the ways in which the present is understood. Drawing on the fictions of history and speculations on the future, she amplifies the ethics of being invited to speak and being invited to" – nearly over now, honest – "listen. Hers is a powerful artistic practice that complicates how we understand our place in the world."
There, at the end, is the message, loud and clear as an amplified ethic. Shalev-Gerz complicates. She's a complicator. Thank goodness for that. Complication is what artspeak is all about. It seeks to confer status and worth on an artist's work by insisting on its obscurity, which it conveys through a grey porridge of abstract nouns. The purpose of those unravelled particularities? "To reflect on the ways in which the generalities of history and memory are constructed." The overall effect? "This gathering of works interrogates assumptions and opens the space between understanding and perception." (That's it. No more extracts, I promise.) You might think that if an artist's work is difficult, those who write about it might want to make it more comprehensible. You might be wrong.
Artists, in my experience, are practical. They're earthy. They worry about money. They have interesting stains. Grayson Perry never fashions a sentence so obscure it shuts the space between understanding and perception and knocks them both on the head. Then again, none of the above artspeak was written by the artist herself. It's the work of a contributor to her catalogue. For all I know, Shalev-Gerz is an unpretentious woman who likes a laugh and always buys her round. As for her work, I'll never know. The artspeak has had precisely the opposite effect from the one intended – it's convinced me not to see it.
As a 16-year-old, I once read my poetry in a Hampstead pub called The Freemasons Arms. As I stepped onstage, I had an overwhelming urge. I was desperate to baffle the audience. I ached for them to be baffled by my poems and attribute their bafflement to the fact that my poetry was "deep". In the event, they giggled and that was the end of my poetry career. But at least I understand the adolescent impulse behind artspeak. I just don't understand why it's written by grown-ups.

Perhaps we should start an 'artspeak' comment box competition. The prize a commissioned essay on the winner's work.

Things I mentioned in this morning's talk

I mentioned Washington Garcia at this morning’s talk, find the gallery at:
http://www.washingtongarciagallery.com/aboutus.html The interesting issue here is that often these spaces are started by groups of artists and that they can develop into career opportunities. Washington Garcia has been running for about four years in Glasgow. Initially they were going into empty buildings, painting them white and making the spaces as gallery like as possible. Then gradually as they built a reputation, developed a website and now they receive money from Glasgow International http://www.glasgowinternational.org/ to help support the shows they put on, as the city now recognises the importance of the shows they curate. The fact that they have targeted mid career artists to show has meant that they could very quickly establish a strong profile and other galleries have wanted to look at who they are showing. Sometimes it’s not about developing a space just to show your own work, but once you have established a toehold in the art community it’s much easier to then start accessing venues for your own work. Notice how they are now commissioning essays on the artists they are showing. A canny move that supports the artists’ CVs as well as helps generate interest in the work.

Also in response to this morning’s talk, see below some web-sites that could be useful if you were thinking about researching the way presentation could shape an audience's reaction to art work. Get used to what they offer and look for alternative suppliers. The more you know the more you can trade. Artists are always asking each other, “where can you get a…” if you know where, you can help and then someone owes you a favour. A large part of this business is built on people supporting each other and to do that, you need something to trade with.

Good iron mongers offer a wide range of fixings and fittings, including lots of hooks, hanging ideas and brackets: http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/

The place for those 's' hooks and small pulleys you always wanted: http://www.choiceful.com/shop-online-Fixings.html

For a wide range of fixings: http://www1.westfalia.net/shops/tools/ironmongery/tensioning_rope/tensioning_ropes/

Look at builders supplies as well
http://www.screwfix.com/

http://www.ebuildingsupplies.co.uk/page/home

Delicate and unusual wire meshes etc
http://www.wires.co.uk/?gclid=CKPDgLKJ5pgCFQyjQwodlXAxbQ

More architectural scale wire
http://www.steelwirerope.com/General%20Wire%20Rope/StainlessSteelWireRope.html?gclid=CKDE48KJ5pgCFQo1QwodZmKKcA

For coloured ropes and climbing fixtures
http://www.inglesport.com/shop/catalog.php?category=SRT%20Ropes

Swivels and links on a small scale are often found at fishing suppliers, try: http://www.seafishingsupplies.co.uk/index.php?cPath=59_109

If you are thinking about using commercial style signage or text. For instance if you are wanting to put a professional look to your sinage for an exhibition:
http://www.fastsigns.co.uk/England-WestYorkshire-Leeds-store857.html

Building walls? Plywood, chipboard, blockboard or MDF
http://www.boardcraft.co.uk/products.asp

Lighting, this might be an American company, but it’s good to see what gallery lighting is available:
http://www.pegasusassociates.com/products/ArtGalleryLighting/ArtGalleryLighting.html

Display cabinets are expensive, but looking through commercial ones available can give you ideas as to how you might want to make your own:
http://www.displaysense.co.uk/display-cabinets?gclid=CML7mN2V5pgCFQpNQwodRQ8ecg

FOR PAINT WHEN YOU HAVE NO MONEY TRY:
SEAGULLS RE-USE LIMITED.
Units 3&4, Aire Place Mills
103 Kirkstall Road
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS3 1JL
Kate Moree & Cat Pearson
0113 2467510
recyclingseagulls@yahoo.com

I havnt worked out how to make the links work yet, so just paste the URLs I have suggested into your browser to check out the on-line catalogues.

I presume all of you use Neville's DIY in the back of the Merrion Centre for your day to day needs. Everything from nails and screws to sheets of bubblewrap; if not check it out next time you are in town.
For your haberbashery needs try Samuel Taylor's which is over the road from the market, in that little street that leads to the back of House of Fraser and Games Workshop. Lots of fixings upstairs, but downstairs for fabrics including canvas, cottons, linens and hessians.