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Independent scholarship has been difficult. Navigating through art history, criticism, and journalism without teachers to reign in all these ideas, fellow peers to test ideas, an editor reminding me of a deadline, and/or a project or paper due at the end of a few weeks makes for a challenging approach at scholarly research and constant engagement. Then again, this is MY forum and virtual space. Another issue that has come up for me – creating context. It’s only me writing and…
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Technology on its own just isn’t as fun. It needs art. To some extent, I do agree with the following… The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people. ~Karl Marx Artists are extremely USEFUL people.
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[Traditional Art enters the room] Dorothy (DS): Hey Traditional!! I’m glad you could make it. I really wanted you to meet my friend, Digital. I know you’ve heard a lot about her. She’s amazing! Just like you! Traditional: I don’t know about this. I’ve heard a lot about Digital. She moves way too fast. I mean, all those connections. Who knows where all those wires have been?! Are you sure this is a good idea? I’m okay with all the…
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Don’t have unrealistic expectations. If you wanna make money, you better drop out right now and go to banking school, or web site school, anywhere but art school. And remember, only 1 out of 100 of you will ever make a living as an artist. ~Professor Sandiford, Art School Confidential (played by John Malkovich) The aforementioned quote from movie, Art School Confidential, had me laughing but remember what Freud said about jokes, there’s a smidgen of truth in them. Talk about artists…
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You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. ~Franz Kafka
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This is going to be one of those really personal posts. It may or may not have anything to do with art but indirectly, it will. There may be a sprinkling of frustration with a dash of cynicism. Just going to free write and hoping to edit as little as possible. I’m sure there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it’s a Trompe-l’oeil painted light. I’ll take anything to keep my spirits and motivation going this year! People…
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My take on the 10 tips (specific to art writing and criticism)… 1. Cut the boring parts. = Talk about something exciting. If there’s a piece or a show that falls short, provide constructive criticism without being brutal. I mean, for goodness sake, artists do need to hear it when they haven’t pushed boundaries enough. Yet, writers need to be brave enough to say, “You didn’t make me feel what you were trying to execute”. 2. Eliminate unnecessary words. =…
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For fun, I googled “art writing” and the third result piqued my interest – 10 Writing Tips from the Masters (insert link to website here). However, to spare you some time, they are listed below: Cut the boring parts. Eliminate unnecessary words. Write with passion. Paint a picture. Keep it simple. Do it for love. Learn to thrive on criticism. Write all the time Write what you know…or, what you want to know. Be unique and unpredictable. I have my…
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writer | artist | scholar
Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D. 