Artist Statements
I've put together some info, examples and links for you on artist statements, which we'll discuss in class tommorow. Hope to see you there for our tearfull last day.
http://www.artbusiness.com/artstate.html
http://www.eciad.ca/wc/artstate.htm (from the emily carr)
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER!
Who are you? What do you do? What is your background?
Purpose? Motive?
Materials? Techniques?
What theoretical framework do you fit within? Are drawing off of?
make I statements
don’t name drop
be specific!
Avoid obscure references – take too long to explain, contextualize
Be brief. Two or three paragraphs of no more than three sentences each is a good length for an introductory statement.
* Tell why you create your art and what it means to you.
* Appeal to the emotions. Convey feeling about your art.
* Avoid complex explanations, obscure references, and artspeak.
* Try not to categorize your work or compare yourself to others.
* Use language that everyone can understand.
Example!
My great-grandfather played Tuba for the Czar 1. Professionally my father was involved in Pharmacological Arts, at night he became a horn blower. My family has always been involved in the Arts, but mostly at night. During the day most of us were scientists and engineers.
It is no surprise to those that know me that I might stack bowls in patterns that remind one of the crystal structure of kaolin or other minerals. Those who know me better, also know I was fascinated by the book The Katz Cradle 2, and it's references to ICE NINE. Time as a produce pusher in San Francisco taught me how to pack 88 oranges into orange boxes 3. Quickly filling studios with bowls thrown three per minute has taught me ways to pack pots.
I would like to learn to throw other forms, like jugs and water jars with the same ease as I do my bowls. Often you hear potters say that a form doesn't get good until you've made one hundred. My experience with bowls seems to point to a number closer to three thousand. Who wants the three thousand mediocre water jars or jugs that it will take before they get good? That is fatalism.
Fatalists are never good at sales. Is there a market for thousands of coarsely thrown 3 inch bowls 4? Is pottery without a user like syrup with no waffles? Could I export them?
I like gritty feet on pots. That is the problem. They scratch my mother's furniture. She has glued little green felt circles to their bottoms. They would scratch your table too if you let them. My table is made out of old plywood. So I glaze them together, glossing over their well grogged 5 feet. I upturn them, setting them on their smooth sides and subverting their former function. Now they can be imported into proper homes for what my father would call proper prices. Do you want to buy 6 some?
I am easily distracted. My work reflects this. I am often told that I should concentrate on one idea. This is like finishing your peas before you eat your rice. I prefer to mix it all together and eat with my eyes closed. Variety is spice. I leave the goal of refinement to others.
The elephant was made for a show 7 illustrating the story of the five blind people and the elephant. Five blind people travel the the forest to the raja's palace so that they might experience an elephant. On the way they are stopped by an encounter in the forest. One says he has run into a wall, another says he was stopped by a spear. Another is afraid of a snake. Another is stopped by a large tree and the fifth by a big wind. It turns out that they had walked into an elephant. The wall was the elephants side, the spear was a tusk, the snake was the trunk. The tree was the elephants leg and the wind was just the flapping of the elephants ear. After much argument they put all of their pieces together and discovered "The Whole Truth". I hope you enjoy the show. Site: http://falcon.tamucc.edu/~lkatz/articles/wholetruth.html
Second example: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:GLfAnkQaha4J:www.montserrat.edu/campus/writingcenter/statementsamples.pdf+artist+statements+examples&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=ca
(ignore the format of this example)
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement
Since the early 1990s, my work has involved the creation of conceptually based sociopolitical
objects and installations. In my work, I deconstruct the American dream, fairy tales, nursery
rhymes, and lullabies that are part of our childhood and adult culture. My work also addresses
gender roles/gender assignment, the fragility of family dynamics, domestic violence and the
underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin American society. These themes are
often combined with the metaphors commonly used by those in battering relationships into
installations that feature mundane domestic objects, painted pure white and embellished with
stenciled text. The color white establishes a dream-like surreal quality, suggests notions of purity
and safety, and formally unifies the disparate objects in each installation. The texts provide clues
to content and interpretation. My "conceptual sculpture weds minimal form with maximal
content". (Shawn Hill, "BayWindows" Nov. 14 96 p27).
The two works, both Untitled 1991, are examples of my earlier work that addressed the
overlooked issues of class in American society. Those who are in the lower classes are usually
the ones who are "watched like goldfish" and must depend on others for their very survival. The
monopoly game pieces are also very important clues to understanding the various facets of our
so called classless society.
The piece entitled, Porter Crib 1997, is from a series of 10 beds entitled, "Weary Heads". I
began the series in late 1994. These life size beds are beautiful objects, but they are also very
dangerous. These works transform an object, that usually provides comfort, into one that has
nightmare qualities and is incapable of providing comfort. Stenciled text/language is a prominent
element in my "Weary Heads" bed series. The Porter Crib text is taken from a "Christianized"
Celtic/Pagan childhood prayer. The prayer is stenciled on tracing paper, thus making it
impossible for any infant to lie in the crib with out falling through on to the floor. Children are
also at the mercy of others. Presently, I am working on completing two more of the beds in the
series. I hope to show all 10 beds in a gallery setting in the future.
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posted by Tucker @ 4:33 PM
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