Reflective Writing Workshop, Jonathon P. Watts

Lets say you have to write an essay, lets say you have to choose a question? How would you go about picking? -something you're interested in -something that fits to a practice -helps you understand your practice -help understand artists interested in Why do we pick a question? -to keep on track -to find a starting point Think about the keywords in however you want, as they are useful to help orientate your research Think of it as a hook you can hang your essay on and keep it in place How do you make notes? What do you write down? Do you write them in such a way that only makes sense to your self? What most people don't think about is that writing is a process, you can't expect to wait up and write 3000 words in 12 hours straight. Think and make notes anywhere, have them be thorough to help guide yourself and stay organised/systematic A lot of essay writing is about structure. When you're reading text, have a particular question in mind so that you are able to extract the needed information you're looking for. Avoid becoming overwhelmed by reading and then thinking back and trying to extract what may be important. When you sit down to write, put yourself in a position of no distractions. We live in a world where dozens of things hope to grasp our attention, aim to pull yourself out of that head space and escape to freely think and concentrate your thoughts and ideas. It's in writing you'll have a chance to fully channel your thoughts, and realize the information. Try different spaces for different tasks of writing. The best advice for struggling to write is to keep writing. It's while you write that your writing grows and furthers itself as you continue. Important part of writing about art is description, it can often help you to write further. Doesn't have to be theoretical or literal just get your mind going by starting with what you see and it goes from there. Much of the value of your work comes from being articulate in your description and how you get across. What is reflective writing? • A stream of consciousness • Reflecting on your own practice • Attempts to understand it • Look back on what has been done • Explanation of reasoning • Seeing what went well and what could improve • Mind Map and connect the links of your work Writing reflective on other peoples works how might that help? Helps one to compare and get a further understanding on not only their work but yours as well When you describe artwork in the written form, what are you doing? -Saying what you see -analyzing -verbalizing something that's physical In a way you're attempting to find a way of realizing what isn't physically there as well The order in which you describe something holds significance as well Where do you start when describing a room within a gallery? Atmosphere Scale Objects held within Emotions This order has much meaning making as anything else. So when you read you don't read everything at once but goes in a linear way that is structured, which as writing how you choose the structure When you look at the same object various times throughout the year you see it through different mindsets and filters depending on when you view it, they look different. Descriptive writing adds value as you stop to take an in depth view on a work. Painting almost has an illusion, it draws you in to find views through the single window provided by the artist; where as sculpture embodies and you bring a 360 degree experience into reality. For Arty Bollocks or Against Arty Bollocks? Arty bollocks is the elaborate words used to describe art etc. Perhaps it's a specific kind of address and an aim at a certain audience Is it right to approach describing art this way, should it be dumbed down for everyone to understand? Who decides what is the proper level of "difficulty" to describe art? It creates a community based on how you approach it, whether you choose to purposefully talk to the art community or include those who wouldn't know the "bigger" words. However it also can be used for pure and utter bullshit

George Orwell's rules for writing What if arty bollocks is actually a way of expressing the complicity of art? Think about this idea may be situational. Some times it may be necessary where other moments it will be completely ridiculous. International Art English article, Rule and Levine- worth the read Produces a break down of the most common arty bollock in press releases, concluding they are full of shit, exaggerate the art, unnecessary extravagant vocabulary written by unpaid interns in the back offices of art galleries. Rule and Levine accuse of the arty bollocks but then Hito Style counter reacts and tells them to look at the economical side. Language changes constantly throughout time to keep up with the ever growing society and cultures. Migration affects it as well as it brings new vocabulary from other parts of the world and then combines to create new words or styles of language. The flaws to Style's reaction is that it allows bollocks in other cultures to become mistranslated and miss communicate what is being attempted to be said. So the arty bollocks becomes an opportunity to look further into what is being said or attempting to be said. An example of pure hybrid language is creole, bringing together French, Spanish, and English from Haiti created by those from Africa as slaves hoping to communicate within themselves. (In relation to the cow poem) The more you watch something the more you come to understand it. If you sat and looked at a table for 10 years you'd know everything about that table, or watched the cows every day you'd understand them more in depth and how they act and live. So isn't that how we look art art? What if we thought about artwork as having a character? How would that change our views on art? Don't just be theoretical when talking about your work, be personal and link it into your life that may challenge those theoretical ideas. Sally O'Reily Artist/Critic/Journalist Increasingly wrote for these outlets but then one day decided to just stop completely, and become an artist after questioning as a critic who she was writing for/helping. Found people were being to neutral in that area avoiding never branching out to say anything controversial never having a clear opinion. There are critics that are very keen to say art is doing what the artist wants it to be doing which very often isn't the case calling out those who are interested in art history and attempt to place the artists within art history which in terms affects their encounter/feelings for the art work Look up Brian Sewell (apparently fun to read his opinions) New Enquiry is a web based art writing The White Review, also on the internet Harold Evans - Essential English for Journalists (useful info on how to structure sentences and arguments) Jillder Williams - How to write about Contemporary Art (about to specifically write for that subject)