The (dreaded) Artist Statement ... Help wanted.

[Michael Gordon]

Cay Lang's 'Taking the Leap; Bulding a Career as a Visual Artist' has useful and good information on writing the statement in addition to a couple of samples. Here's a few tidbits:

* describing the work is not the point of the statement; the point is to make the viewer want to know more about the work;

* Keep it short!

* Be as specific as possible; don't tell people that you like to photograph (we all do, even non-photographers). Explain WHY you make the photographs.

I struggle eternally with writing and revising my statement, but I find it easier to write if I'm honest, truthful, and passionate about my work and what I'm saying. Depending upon the exact purpose and needs of the statment, I also try to answer the who-what-where-why. I don't describe the HOW; unless you have a revolutionary or unique technique, no one but photographers care about what kind of camera or lens you used or how you developed or toned the prints. It's useless information in the context of the body of work.

Good luck!

[paulr]

Michael's points are great, so are medform norm's.

I'd add that writing an artist's statement, and rewriting it once in a while, is an important exercise, even if you never show it to anyone. it forces you to ask yourself some tough questions, and find a kind of clarity that often end up just working without. To get value out of it yourself it's much more important for it to be honest than to be good in any other way.

I've noticed a couple of different styles of artist's statement. One of them is likely more relevent to you and your work than the other. The first is the personal kind ("I've been fascinated with old barnwood ever since my father died ... "). The second is the more academic, documentary kind ("The Pequot tribe first came to the Northeast marsh region over 700 years ago, and brought with them their knowledge of irrigation, strip mining, and cable television ...").

It's possible to take a middle road, too.

In any case, please don't tell people what your work means! Statements that try to do that are usually shallow, vaguely insulting, and take away more than they add. This is where it's important to remember you're a photographer and not a poet.

It's also a good idea to avoid cliche phrases like "I'm interested in ..." simply because every college art major in the world starts their pretentious statement with that phrase.

It's always safe to talk about your subject matter. Guys like Robert Adams and Andrew Boroweic have written long essays about the regions they've photographed, even when the concerns of the images are obviously more personal. I'm not always a fan of the safe choice, but if you're worried about your audience getting it ... or caring ... it might be an approach to consider.

Good topics include what draws you to your subject matter, what draws you to your methodology, what you hope to discover.

Write it so that if your mom reads it, she won't put it down and tell you you're full of crap.

[chris jordan]

Here are my own rules for writing my artist statements:

--Don't judge the photos, or try to feed the viewer (e.g., "these are intimately magical moments of touching depth and beauty, etc., etc...."). Leave ALL of the judging and opinionating up to others.

--Don't say stuff that the photos are supposed to say (e.g., "these photographs convey the grandeur of the landscape in all of its splendor," etc.)

--Don't talk about your emotions in sappy terms like poignant, intimate, touching, lyrical, etc.; leave that to others.

--Talk about your motivations to do the work, but only the ones that aren't obviously in the pictures themselves (e.g., "I care about this place because this is where my grandfather settled ninety years ago.")

--Use simple language, clear terms, no jargon (paradigm is the worst one), and never say you are redefining anything.

--Don't try to put your work in the context of the art world; that's a job for a curator or critic. (E.g., "this work goes one step beyond Picasso and redefines the paradigm for how paradigms should be redefined.")

--Talk about the subject, in a way that conveys why you care about it (e.g., "This is a vanishing wilderness soon to be bulldozed," etc.)

--And most important of all: When it feels done, send it to about ten close friends whose opinions you trust, and ask them to be brutally honest in their comments. I've gotten back stuff like "hey Chris, can I have some of what you smoked before writing that?" which sends me back to the drawing board. After about five rounds of that, if I'm lucky I have something reasonably coherent...

~cj

www.chrisjordan.com (by the way there are a couple of artist statements on there if you're interested)

[medform-norm]

Another bit of sound and level headed advice from someone who obviously knows what he's doing (and I mean his work as well). This should get you going on your own statement, unless of course following all the leads in this thread to external sources may turn into another form of procrastinating...

[paulr]

"this work goes one step beyond Picasso and redefines the paradigm for how paradigms should be redefined."

Chris, don't be modest. your paradigm goes at least two steps beyond picasso.

[Daniel Grenier]

"Another bit of sound and level headed advice from someone who obviously knows what he's doing (and I mean his work as well). This should get you going on your own statement...."

Indeed, lots of sound advice here (I especially like the don`t rather than the do approach, Chris). I`ll spend the next few days in the quiet of my darkroom to hopefully finalize what has turned out to be far more difficult an endeavour than first anticipated.

Thanks again folks, as always.

[Michael Gudzinowicz]

paulr wrote:

"this work goes one step beyond Picasso and redefines the paradigm for how paradigms should be redefined."

Hey... that's what they said in the "Art in America" review of Mike and Doug Starn's debute work just after
they finished up at the MFA School in Boston around a dozen years ago.

(If anyone isn't familiar with the phenomena: http://www.starnstudio.com/
If password is requested, just hit cancel. Google "Mike Doug Starn" for more
stuff. There are some well done "statements" about their work floating
around on sites and in the recent articles on their site.)

[paulr]

this is an actual artist's statement a friend found around 10 years ago. just reading it shifted my paradigm; i've been limping ever since.

"_____'s graphic mastery of the world of appearances calls into question the reality he appears to depict. in _____'s images, the more fully articulated an object or ensemble becomes, the further it recedes into an essential mystery. This approach subtly transcends virtuosity, as the artist's gaze continues to probe with even greater amplitude long after the veneer of the "known" has been described. This intense sensibility, deftly merging the familiar and the unknown, informs his series of seductive but menacing sculptures as well"

[Mark Sampson]

The good part about the statement quoted in paulr's last post is that, having read it, you are thereby relieved of the requirement to actually look at the work. You can then finish your glass of box wine, and head out to a barbecue joint (or asian restaurant) with your significant other and your friends.

[Dave Rodenbaugh]

Of course, there's always the handy "artist-statement-o-matic":
<p/>
http://tinyurl.com/mvpe
<p/>
-D