It's easy to talk about it. Hard to do it.
What is "Fine Art"?
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It's easy to talk about it. Hard to do it.
This why I draw and paint in addition to photography. Photography, aside from the alternative and abstract pursuits, is generally documentary. When I have an idea for an image and cannot find the subject, I reach for my pencil.
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Alan I didn't know you spoke for "most people" and you were versed in art history and gallery gossip so you know enough about art sales going back 150 years to know how no one really cared about the story behind the work.
People who buy and collect works of art like to know about the person whose work they are buying, art is a story. I asked before if you go to art galleries to purchase the art being sold and/or talk to the gallerists and artists at the openings (which you chose to ignore). It's obvious from your replies in this thread you are not their target audience, and you are only speaking for yourself not caring about anybody's state of mind or reasons for doing what they do. Most likely you aren't planning on marketing your own art to galleries, invitational shows or "contests" or museums either.
You might reconsider your position about most people not giving a crap because many people do care, and if you ever read what the inspiration is behind things that were or are being made (Gaudi, Mondrain, Picasso, Cage, Matisse, Bresson, Steiglitz, Strand, Adams, Eno, Zappa, Weston, Karsh, Tichy, Winograd, Penn, and others often talked about what drove them ) you might see / read in the artists' own voice and gain insights about yourself as well as the artwork being looked at, I know I have. I ALSO recommend if you have a local art school, gallery or museum near you, you go to an "artist talk" where the living artist actually stands there, with slides, a powerpoint demonstration or physical artwork and talks about what their inspiration was and the meaning behind the work. They happen pretty often and these days one doesn't even need to be there ( because of zoom ). I saw artist talks by Catherine Opie, Sally Mann, Will Harris, David Hilliard and a handful of others over the years, and Duane Michaels in a few weeks... well worth the price of admission ( FREE! )...
BTW, even people in this thread who claim to be adamant about how dumb artist statements and the gallery system are, and how their work stands on its own and doesn't need any sort of statement &c do them (on their website they claim doesn't exist because their work is too good for the internet) . Paragraphs written in the 3rd person, references to other artists &c waxing poetic like an art historian, and curator about their own, and their family members artwork ...
if you ask me, the only thing that really matters is that you enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy, not much else really matters ..
Neither is easy ...
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On my 'retirement" after many years of making photographs in an Scientific Research Institute, my daughter 'challenged me' to earn my BFA at the nearby University rather than. sit and watch 'boring (or otherwise) television..or even the grass grow on my lawn.
At the end of my very last course I 'hung'15 images of (what I 'claimed' to be but a much reduced and DELIBERATE selected area observed (downside up) on my ground glass rather than the (almost) wide angle view as observed by my two eyes.
Other than, that... I am still unable to 'really' describe just 'how (and perhaps even 'why") I make that selected 'area' to 'record to film.
Ken
At the end of my very last course I 'hung'15 images of (what I 'claimed' to be but a much reduced and DELIBERATE selected area observed (downside up) on my ground glass rather than the (almost) wide angle view as observed by my two eyes.
Other than, that... I am still unable to 'really' describe just 'how (and perhaps even 'why") I make that selected 'area' to 'record to film.
Ken
It’s not just the artist who might write about their art. In many exhibitions this falls to the curator, or their assignee, to write an introduction for the exhibition catalog.
There is an excellent book on the subject of curation: “The Curator’s Handbook” by Adrian George. It provide great incite to that aspect of the art world.
And for those who are troubled by the language in writings about art, a good translator is “Artspeak” by Robert Atkins.
There is an excellent book on the subject of curation: “The Curator’s Handbook” by Adrian George. It provide great incite to that aspect of the art world.
And for those who are troubled by the language in writings about art, a good translator is “Artspeak” by Robert Atkins.
MattKing
Moderator
Sometimes I "like" Art more after I've read the Artist Statement.
You know, the sort of discovery after enlightenment kind of "like".
You know, the sort of discovery after enlightenment kind of "like".
I clearly said no one cares about the artists' background until after they are famous. After all, don't many artists cut off their left ear and no one knows or cares?
All the people you listed are famous already. So naturally people are interested in their background. Would anyone care that Vivien Meier was a never-married nanny who had mental problems or that she shot mainly with a TLR if her photos weren't made famous first?
By the way, I don;t speak for most people. It's my belief what most people believe. You can have a different opinion about what most people believe. We're giving our opinion.
Whether one uses an artist's statement or thinks out the composition, one needs a clear concept of the subject and approach(es). Ansel Adams commented on "a fuzzy concept" and discussed that well enough not to have to place it here.
I clearly said no one cares about the artists' background until after they are famous. After all, don't many artists cut off their left ear and no one knows or cares?
All the people you listed are famous already. So naturally people are interested in their background. Would anyone care that Vivien Meier was a never-married nanny who had mental problems or that she shot mainly with a TLR if her photos weren't made famous first?
By the way, I don;t speak for most people. It's my belief what most people believe. You can have a different opinion about what most people believe. We're giving our opinion.
do you really believe this ???
you don't think people are curious and want to learn anything ?
what a sad and dim view of humanity. ...
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No one would know who she was, much less care. Kind of like most of the world, only immediate family and friends might give a damn. But when something nasty is revealed about a known artist, all of a sudden a lot of people change their opinion of the work.
The purpose of supplying background information and an artist's statement is to put the work in a certain perspective. And whether you and your imaginary army of people who you believe think like you cares or not is irrelevant. Sometimes, I find an artist's statement to be at odds with how I see the pictures, sometimes it enhances what I see.
I did not call him dim, I called the world view that "no one cares" and no one wants to educate themselves about why an artist / creator made whatever it is they made a dim / sad point of view.
Alan is by no means dim ... and I am sorry if it came off like I was suggesting he is... it's just a point of view that seems really depressing ( dim ), and if it is true that "most people" don't care about anyone else and done want to / refuse to educate themselves about someone else's point of view it's sad. no wonder why the world is a complete mess. I go out of my way to donate time and money to help people different than me, and learn new things and understand a different POV I can't imagine what he is talking about ... as I said it seems really depressing to me that most people don't give a crap. heck I go out of my way to sell all my prints and donate 100% of the profits I would make to complete strangers ... because I try to empathize and understand where they are coming from.
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Who would want to read an artist's statement from an unknown photographer? First thing you're going to do is look at their photos. Then, maybe, if those are pretty good and interesting to you, your curiosity might get you to look further at who they are.
Here's my artist's statement if you're interested. Likes nature. Admires beauty. Has an impulse for the oddball.
What's yours?
I'm glad you clarified that. I'm very curious about things. Fact is when I go to someone's site and there's an artist's statement, I usually read it. Many are too wordy and as Pieter says often there's no connection between the words and pictures. But for the most part, people, in general, I wouldn't think are interested in the artist unless they're famous.
I read artist statements of people I have never met / I am interested in their work.
My artist statement(kind of a work in progress because I have a different one I have been working on as I continue with the project from a different angle):
I have been visiting a small island since I was 13 years old and ran aground there. I tried to forget about it for years but it never left my memory. Now more than 40years later, I have been visiting this place regularly and I have been deeply affected by it. I have learned it's spoken and written history and I understand it was a sacred place by people who lived here before me. I have been collaborating with the island to make photographs there, using the elements I can find: sun, water, salt, to make photo sensitive materials and learn more about what might have happened there through the images I make.
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Now you are just being logical. There is no room for logic on the internet.
My understanding of an artist's statement is that it states why the artist makes the work they do. Not who they are.
There are three exhibitions at the local gallery. I’ve never heard of any of the artists, and I’d be willing to bet that not one person in 10,000 knows who they are. But their artist’s statements are posted online, and I read all three to see if I might be interested in seeing their work.
MattKing
Moderator
An Artist's Statement that tells you nothing about the Artist makes as much sense as an Artist's Statement that tells you nothing about the Art.
Arguably it is better to have more about an "unknown" Artist than one who is well known.
Arguably it is better to have more about an "unknown" Artist than one who is well known.
An artist's statement tells the viewer what lead the artist to create that particular work or body of art. I can be about a single piece or a whole project, even about the artists practice in general. Why, what and how. Nothing about the artist is required. If the reader can glean something personal about the artist from this statement, so be it.
MattKing
Moderator
To my mind, that tells you an immense amount about the artist.
The statement doesn't need to be purely biographical to reveal a lot about the artist themselves.
That's a very effective statement - I can imagine reading that and seeing it uniting a series of works that might seem "random" at first.
An artist statement is a tool, just like any other promotional or informational piece of writing, to get someone else to want to look at the artist's work. It may offer insight into the work itself or it may offer insight into the reason the artist did the work - those are not necessarily the same.
Of course an artist statement is good for an artist. Of course it is especially useful for unknown artists. When an viewer approaches an unknown, he or she is seeing it without a context. Context is extremely important for being able to understand and appreciate anything. The other works by the same artist can be a context, if the view is aware of their existence. An artist statement places a single work in relation to what the artist explicitly says. Every advantage available should be used by someone trying to get people to seriously look at the work.
Think about a photo on a book page. Even a caption keeps your eyes on the page just a little longer, might make you look back at the photo and examine it more closely.
And, John, Alan is right when he said most people don't care about artist statements. Most people don't care about artists. Except for a handful of them, even the "famous" photographers are not known outside of photography - even though people may be familiar with their photos. (The same is true of painters.) Art, artists, and artist statements are well outside the realm of concern for most people. And that's not insulting. That's just how it happens to be.
Of course an artist statement is good for an artist. Of course it is especially useful for unknown artists. When an viewer approaches an unknown, he or she is seeing it without a context. Context is extremely important for being able to understand and appreciate anything. The other works by the same artist can be a context, if the view is aware of their existence. An artist statement places a single work in relation to what the artist explicitly says. Every advantage available should be used by someone trying to get people to seriously look at the work.
Think about a photo on a book page. Even a caption keeps your eyes on the page just a little longer, might make you look back at the photo and examine it more closely.
And, John, Alan is right when he said most people don't care about artist statements. Most people don't care about artists. Except for a handful of them, even the "famous" photographers are not known outside of photography - even though people may be familiar with their photos. (The same is true of painters.) Art, artists, and artist statements are well outside the realm of concern for most people. And that's not insulting. That's just how it happens to be.
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