Last week I ordered a few art supplies from my favorite online retailer. When my order arrived they had included their latest newsletter, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. But it was an article by Chris Tyrell entitled The Yin and Yang of The Artist’s Ego which really got me thinking.
I’ve read quite a few books on art career related subjects, and have taken the odd professional development type workshop. In all these materials it’s been stressed when writing your artist’s statement to relate the work to you. Why is it important to you? How are you connected to the subject or style of your art? In reading Chris’ article he discusses marking an assignment involving artists statements for a recent class at Emily Carr University. He counted how many times an artist referenced themselves and how many times they referenced the viewer. There was a decided heavy bias towards self – in fact there were only 2 mentions of the viewer in total.
He goes on to say the artist’s yang requires their ego to play a role in the creation of the work, but the yin needs to shut out the ego to engage the public so that when asked “what is that about?”, the artist can disengage their personal motivation and steer the conversation to what it means to the viewer. I agree with this is a lot of respects, but when it comes to writing the artists statement I think most galleries and institutions want to know what the work means to the artist. How can you write about the viewer in a meaningful way without dictating how they should interpret the work?
In looking at my artist’s statement for my upcoming exhibition Beyond The Looking Glass I’m trying to think how I can apply Tyrell’s ideas into my statement. This is going to require much more thought and an examination of all my statements. (I have a different one for each series.) I do mention the viewer once, but only so far as to state I want them to find their own interpretation of the images.
When I look through the viewfinder of a camera all I see is a small rectangular representation of reality. My view of the world becomes isolated and distorted. Sometimes out of the corner of my eye, reflected in the looking glass, I catch glimpses of a world I’m not fully aware of. It’s a place where dreams and nightmares exist together and the distinction between truth and fiction becomes blurred.
With historical ideas from photography’s earliest days I create images that question and challenge the ideas of reality and if we can create our own possibilities by looking at the world through our dreams instead of through our eyes. By merging high tech and low tech equipment and deliberate manipulation, I am creating stories which are just as easily evocative of happy childhood memories as fearful insecurities. The truth in these stories is open to the interpretations of the viewer based on their own experiences and biases.
Thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?
Tags: people, pictorialism, trees, walking
Journey Photographic
I can see his point, as he’s hinting at one of the things I find difficult about writing artists statements in the first place. I believe the art should stand on it’s own for the viewer to interpret, with perhaps only the merest nudge from the artist.
I know this is only tangentially related to the point, as I’m not sure how you go about including the viewer without either presuming or dictating their experience, but it still seems relevant to me, somehow.
Roberta
I wish artist’s statements were more process oriented. It would certainly make them easier to write, easier to understand, and not bias the viewers with intended or unintended meaning. I guess some bodies of work are suited to the artist’s statement explanations, but some would be far better off without anything.
Anita Jesse
I also feel that attempting to bring the viewer into the statement misses the mark. For me, the profound beauty of art is that the viewer is invited to bring his/her experiences and sensibilities to the work and interact on some emotional level. It seems presumptious for me to talk about someone else’s response to my work. I don’t see how I can speak meaningfully beyond my own experience in producing the work and perhaps expressing my hope that the viewer will join in. If I have to explain that I would like the viewer to respond to the work, much less dictate the manner of response, I think I have a larger problem than my artist’s statement.
Roberta
Thanks Anita. I agree with that. I have observed in life what one person thinks is beautiful another thinks is awful; opposing viewpoints not just on matters of aesthetics but in all aspects of life. I would liked to have seen examples of what the author thought were good artist’s statements and how they referenced the viewer.
Tom Bennett
My intentions are directed and changed by my subconscious and therefore the work, when finished is no longer mine but becomes the viewer’s.
Roberta
Yeah, I get that. But how does that relate to writing your artists statement?
Abigail M Markov (@oriridraco)
As a viewer at times and an artist at others, I’d personally rather hear about the artist. As the viewer, I can make up my own mind.
I suppose though that I am not the typical viewer, being an artist as well. So perhaps my view point is not be as relevant. I do understand the suggestion to talk about the viewer as a means of engaging them, making them feel part of the work in a way, but to me, I dislike that approach. It feels less genuine and honest, more like marketing than a discussion. (:
Roberta
That’s kind of what I thought – sort of. I’m really on the fence with this so far. I need more thought and discussion to work it out in my head. If the art becomes all about the viewer once complete why have an artist’s statement at all? How do you write a statement that leaves out the self ego and becomes all about the viewer, especially when you don’t necessarily know your viewer. Are we then supposed to pigeon hole are “target market” as our viewer? That seems narrow-minded and limiting; and if there’s one thing I really rebel against it’s being confined into a box.