{"id":13594,"date":"2015-03-13T18:48:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T18:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/writing-the-artist-statement\/"},"modified":"2015-03-13T18:48:49","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T18:48:49","slug":"writing-the-artist-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/writing-the-artist-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing the Artist Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

ninedotarts<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\"image\"<\/figure>\n

We can\u2019t tell you how often we come across artist statements that trytoo hard to be analytical, clever, academic or progressive. \u00a0It\u2019s so often, in fact, that the majority ofus artsy types forego reading statements entirely. \u00a0Art critic Roberta Smith<\/a> says, \u201cI
\nthink the work of art, whatever form it takes, is the artist\u2019s statement. \u00a0And I don\u2019t want a secondary statement \u2013
\nunless I have real questions \u2013 from the artist or from the dealer or from
\nanybody.\u201d \u00a0Like Smith, we evaluate the
\nart on its own terms. \u00a0But for non-artsy
\ntypes, an artist statement provides the viewer with a lens through which to
\nview your work.<\/p>\n

At NINE dot ARTS<\/a>, we have a
\nsneaking suspicion that some well-intentioned yet ultimately misdirected person
\nset this whole convoluted-is-best artist statement trend in motion. \u00a0Perhaps it was an MFA thesis advisor or art
\ncritic or gallery owner or even Calvin and Hobbes<\/a>? The
\nworld may never know. \u00a0As with any art
\nform, the artist \u2013 whether visual, literary, musical \u2013 must decide where on the
\nunderstandability spectrum (from instantly accessible to utterly challenging)
\nshe wants to be. \u00a0An artist statement is
\nno different. Yet, as anyone who\u2019s ever read Lydia Davis<\/a> or Gertrude Stein<\/a>
\nknows, even the most foreign or conceptual pieces of writing can be grounded in
\nclear language even while the work as a whole remains opaque.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most difficult thing about the artist statement is
\nexpressing in words what you\u2019ve already expressed through color, line, shape,
\ntexture, form and composition. \u00a0After
\nall, as an artist you\u2019re visually not verbally oriented. \u00a0Despite your visual proclivities, one thing
\nremains clear: hope for the artist statement lives! \u00a0You don\u2019t have to wallow in insecurity,
\nhifalutin terminology or fear of overexposing yourself or your work. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Robin Grearson, in her essay \u201cIn
\nDefense of the Artist Statement<\/a>,\u201d says, \u201cAll I want from an artist statement is a link
\nbetween the work and the artist. When this is done honestly, the result is
\noriginal and authentic. It\u2019s simple, but there is so much resistance that the
\nsimplicity is overlooked.\u201d \u00a0In other
\nwords, what drove you to make this
\npainting\/sculpture\/photograph\/drawing\/print?
\nWhat about you is unique? Chances are, this is the same thing that makes
\nyour art unique. \u00a0Your statement should
\nbe specific to you and your work alone.
\nSometimes artists (and writers for that matter) try to be general in an
\neffort towards inclusiveness. \u00a0But
\nparadoxically, the specific not the general becomes universal. \u00a0<\/p>\n

How many
\nartworks explore the relationship between pop culture and the economy? \u00a0Hundreds if not thousands. \u00a0But what other artist explores that
\nrelationship like Willem Volkersz<\/a>?
\nNone. \u00a0Volkersz emigrated from Holland in
\nthe 1950s, subsequently went gaga for American pop culture, and cruised the
\nWest Coast (splitting his time between a motor scooter and a car) to document
\nthousands of billboard and neon signs while collecting kitschy postcards and
\nsouvenirs. \u00a0Those photos and tchotchke
\nepherma then became the fodder for his mixed media pieces that smartly and
\nplayfully integrate painting, neon lights and found objects to simultaneously
\ncelebrate and question consumer culture and American society as a whole. \u00a0As Grearson says, a highly specific artist
\nstatement like Volkerzs\u2019 \u201callows a viewer to locate something of the artist
\nwithin [his] images.\u201d \u00a0As a viewer, you
\ncan connect to Volkerzs road trip, his astonishment at the world\u2019s largest ball
\nof yarn, his affinity for porcelain deer.
\nAn artist statement is therefore expansive not reductive. \u00a0It opens up associations for the viewer,
\nrecontextualizes the work and deepens the viewer\u2019s understanding.<\/p>\n

Now that
\nyou\u2019re on board with the artist statement, where do you start? Yourself! As
\nlogical and simple as it seems, examining yourself and your artistic practice
\ncould be quite frightening. \u00a0Jackie Battenfield<\/a>, in her book, The
\nArtist\u2019s Guide<\/a><\/i>, describes her initial struggles: \u201cWriting about my
\nformal concerns and process felt boring.
\nThe more I worked on my statement, the more depressed I felt. \u00a0I concluded that my work was meaningless
\nbecause I couldn\u2019t figure out how to express what it was about.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s a dark place for sure, one you don\u2019t
\nhave to be in. \u00a0Ask, instead, the
\nfollowing questions:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhy do you create art?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhat inspires you to keep doing it?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhat is specific to your work and no one else\u2019s?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhat is your process for creation?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhy do you use certain materials?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nHow does this piece\/project fit into your body
\nof work as a whole?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhat would others want to know about this work?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nWhat does your work look like? <\/p>\n

Take your time and be thoughtful, really explore the answers to each of
\nthese questions. \u00a0If you\u2019re too
\nintimidated to start writing, you could try talking into a recorder or inviting
\nfriends and fellow artists over for an informal discussion about your work
\n(also recorded). \u00a0After you\u2019ve got your
\ninitial thoughts laid out, read through or listen to everything multiple
\ntimes. \u00a0Comb through the raw material for
\nrepetitions, interesting phrases, key elements.\n<\/p>\n

Give yourself time to mull everything over, really letting it stew in
\nyour brain. \u00a0Let yourself meditate on it while
\ndriving, showering, making dinner, basically any time except when you\u2019re
\npracticing art. \u00a0By doing this, you\u2019ll
\nlet your subconscious do much of the work for you. \u00a0Some writers call this pre-writing. \u00a0Roxane
\nGay<\/a>, for example, did most of her revising for An Untamed State<\/i> before she even set fingers to the keyboard. \u00a0She thought long and hard about her story,
\nworking out plot details and structure ahead of time, so that by the time she
\nsat down to write the novel, she produced the first draft in weeks. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, start a rough draft. \u00a0Your
\ngoal is to create a two to three paragraph statement that \u201cprovides the reader
\nwith information about your sources, ideas and inspiration,\u201d as Battenfield says.
\n This statement will be used on your
\nwebsite, in a press release, application or proposal. \u00a0A well-written statement will make you stand
\nout to curators, art consultants and juries.<\/p>\n

One of our favorite revision strategies is to start with a new, blank
\ndocument. \u00a0You can still have all of the
\nprevious notes nearby, but starting a new document keeps you less tied to what
\nyou\u2019ve already said and more focused on what you\u2019re going to say. \u00a0Essentially, a fresh page helps to keep you
\nimaginatively unfrozen. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The most important thing to remember in the rough draft phase is to
\nturn your inner critic off. \u00a0Creative
\nwriters have any number of strategies for doing this: waking up at 3 am,
\nreading a book upside or backwards for five minutes beforehand, being naked like
\nVictor Hugo<\/a> or Benjamin
\nFranklin<\/a>, going to the same coffee shop like Richard Russo<\/a>,
\nworking at a stand-up desk, in the bathtub, the list goes on. \u00a0The most exciting thing about writing, unlike
\nan artwork, is that you have zero chance of ruining it. You won\u2019t accidentally over
\nprocess\/chip off\/paint over a key element.
\nIn the off chance that you do screw it up in a later draft, you can
\nalways go back to the one before it.
\nFeel free to make a mess of your first draft because you\u2019re going to
\nhave countless opportunities to clean it up.<\/p>\n

On to revision. \u00a0Revision is not
\nsimply about copy editing and grammar. Rather it\u2019s about re-imagining what, how
\nand why you\u2019ve written. \u00a0Your goal is to craft
\na clear, concise statement that illuminates your work for the viewer and lets
\nher see you in it. \u00a0As anyone who\u2019s ever attempted
\nto write knows, this is a feat easier said than done. \u00a0Even Ernest
\nHemingway<\/a> didn\u2019t get it right in his first drafts. \u00a0He rewrote the last page of A Farewell to Arms<\/i> thirty-nine times
\nbefore he got it right. \u00a0We\u2019re not saying
\nyour statement needs to be rewritten that much, but probably you need to take a
\nfew stabs at it \u2013 at the very least.<\/p>\n

Just like creating an artwork, revision requires the simultaneous act
\nof divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and convergent thinking
\n(combining those ideas into the best result.)
\nRevision, therefore, is just as creative as initial drafting. \u00a0If you look at writing and revising your
\nartist statement as you do your art, chances are you\u2019re going to enjoy the
\nwriting process more, you\u2019ll have a better statement and you won\u2019t leave people
\nscratching their heads about your work.<\/p>\n

Finally, give your statement to other people for commentary \u2013 artists and
\nnon-artists alike. \u00a0Get as much feedback
\nas possible. \u00a0There will, of course, be
\noff-the wall comments or comments so highly specific that that one person, that
\nyou can (and probably should) discard those.
\nOn the other hand, when multiple people say the same thing or point to
\nthe same section, that\u2019s your clue to rethink what you\u2019ve written. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting,\u201d\u00a0Steve Almond<\/a>\u00a0says, \u201cis decision making.
\nNothing more and nothing less.\u201d \u00a0In that
\nregard, it\u2019s the same as painting, sculpting, printing or photographing. \u00a0Every line, every color, every shape is a
\nchoice you make. \u00a0Those choices, as you
\nknow, have specific ramifications on the viewer. \u00a0You didn\u2019t develop your artistic prowess
\novernight, so be patient with yourself as you develop your artist statement.
\nAnd remember, you\u2019ve got an infinite number of chances to get it it right.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Image from twistedsifter.com<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ninedotarts: We can\u2019t tell you how often we come across artist statements that trytoo hard to be analytical, clever, academic or progressive. \u00a0It\u2019s so often, in fact, that the majority ofus artsy types forego reading statements entirely. \u00a0Art critic Roberta Smith says, \u201cI think the work of art, whatever form it takes, is the artist\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6PWot-3xg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}