Artist Statement

[mediumcool]

It ain't nece - ain't nece, Ain't nece - ain't nece, Ain't necessarily ... so !

As "a self-evaluation of your work as it stands in the here and now" an artist statement can be a private assessment by someone who photographs for pleasure not profit.

uh-huh

[mediumcool]

revenue promotion

Pray tell, KLaban, what is the purpose of promotion?

And perhaps you may wish toponder meaning of the adjective ultimate; adjectives modify the meaning of nouns, as you well know.

[mediumcool]

uh-huh

Original, not.

Please try harder.

[Isaac]

Original, not.

Please try harder.

Yes, that may indeed have been what KLaban wished to express about your disdain.

[Rob C]

Heysoos, what is it with people on the Internet?

Rob C

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Fuckwits, the lot of 'em.

 

Now there's a concise Artist Statement!

[Colorado David]

I'm really sorry I started this thread.

[Isaac]

I'm really sorry I started this thread.

Take from it whatever you can, and let the dross float past.

[Schewe]

I'm really sorry I started this thread.

You shouldn't be...

The fact of the matter is that a post to a forum like this is like throwing seeds to the wind. You can't control the direction nor reach of the wind, you can only control your reaction to the following posts.

I do think that developing a relatively thick skin is de rigueur for fine art photography. If you are so sensitive that you run and hide at the least bit of controversy or conflict, I don't think you are going to enjoy doing what you think you want to do. Man up and grow one...(yes, I'm being intentionally crass).

But in the course of this thread you've some gotten useful and some not very useful feedback. What EXACTLY did you expect to happen (if what you expected didn't happen, I would question your expectations more than the rough and ready nature of the forums).

It's all grist for the mill...

[Colorado David]

You shouldn't be...

My post was humor after the couple of posts just preceding it.  That's what the little emoticon was supposed to convey.

[Justan]

I read someplace that the idea for an Artist Statement started in the early 1950s. While I haven’t done any research on the varsity of this, if true, the original idea behind the Artist Statement was probably tied to McCarthyism. For those who don’t know, McCarthyism was named after the late and evil spirited US Senator Joseph McCarthy, who accused a vast number of people, particularly including artists, of being communists or communist sympathizers. Notable in his attacks was a complete lack of evidence to support the many accusations he made. At the following link is a short blurb on the topic of McCarthyism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

If true, this suggests that the Artists Statement was born as a way to proclaim that the artist was not, essentially, an enemy of the State.

From then, the AS has grown to become somewhat of a puff piece about the artist, typically serving the interest of marketing related goals.

No matter the real or perceived purpose, the real oddity is that some have come to have high expectations (and high anxiety) about their AS. In the end (imho) it is little other than an industry accepted marketing ploy.

[Rob C]

Out of a sense of shame, inverted vanity, high anxiety and various mental spectres too numerous to enumerate, I've re-jigged mine:

http://youtu.be/EXSmAcJqsGI


Rob C

[Justan]

As long as we’re on the topic of, ahem, borrowed artist statements.....

[Isaac]

My post was humor after the couple of posts just preceding it.  That's what the little emoticon was supposed to convey.

Don't give up the day job :-)

[Colorado David]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV9YIpaTKQc

[Isaac]

fwiw Are "Artists' Statements" Really Necessary?

[Isaac]

I read someplace that the idea for an Artist Statement started in the early 1950s. ... if true, the original idea behind the Artist Statement was probably tied to McCarthyism.

There was also the rise of Conceptual Art - perhaps the concepts were not apparent without an accompanying text.

My guess is that the larger factor was an expansion in fine arts programs at universities, artists statements seem a convenient tool for judging students - Why do you need an artist statement?

[Justan]

^ This is as good of speculation as anything. According to the link you provided, the AS amounts to something that someone demanded of you. Why not? If someone wants to sell something on Craigslist, or anywhere else, they need to write a for sale ad, and I don’t see the AS as being a whole lot different, except that it’s typically much more of an indirect or even oblique way of writing: “Buy my stuff so I don’t have to get a real job!”

Perhaps more pertinently, the development of the university system of education through the early 20th century was a big deal in the US. While I don’t remember when schools of art and architecture became part of the U system, I do recall several of my art history profs saying that the university system of education essentially replaced the artist’s guild system, which was the previous standard for an art education.

In doing a little bone head research over a few days courtesy of Mr. Google, I’ve found a near absence of references to any formal study of the history of the AS. I poked through Google scholar and a bunch of other references. As far as this kind of dork research goes, there is no direct account i came across that even hints at a direct answer to the question of origins. If I were still a student it would be fun to take a Michel Foucault like approach to the development of the AS.

Perhaps the history of the AS is not all that important to the question of using one, but to pursue this, the next logical step would be to contact an art history prof at one of the local U’s to see if she/he has any knowledge on the topic. I don’t plan to do this but someone with an interest might fire off an email. During my studies of art history we talked about a lot of stuff, but i don't recall the topic of an AS coming up. That was back in the 80s. As the article you linked clearly shows, it’s now part of the curricula.

[kencameron]

In doing a little bone head research over a few days courtesy of Mr. Google, I’ve found a near absence of references to any formal study of the history of the AS. I poked through Google scholar and a bunch of other references. As far as this kind of dork research goes, there is no direct account i came across that even hints at a direct answer to the question of origins. If I were still a student it would be fun to take a Michel Foucault like approach to the development of the AS.

Surely research would need to start by looking at the history of visual artists writing about their own work, for which there is abundant material going back at least to the Renaissance. Subsidiary and separate questions would be when some of this writing took a form similar to what are now called artist statements, and when the term itself was first used.

[Justan]

^To each his or her own approach, but to me your suggestion is the long way around and would lead to a lot of time spent reading. Of course if someone wanted to spend a lot of time reading, it would be great. Sadly I have little time for that kind of thing, and due to that was searching for someone that’s already written a history of the artist statement, or someone who has done some works in the area that made their way to Google scholar’s research. There may be some as I haven’t done a formal study, or even a made sincere effort. Were I to do that, I’d start by contacting the dept. of A&A at a local U and ask one or two of the profs about it. At least that’s what I typically did in the time I attended a U. After all, what point is served by spending countless hours with a goal that is little other than re-creating a wheel, so to speak.

However, I do agree that if one wanted to truly learn the broader sense of what an artist or many artists had to write about themselves, then a much greater depth of study is advisable.

But heck, one doesn’t need to read much of anything to put together 2-4 paragraphs of sycophantic fluff, which is typical of many AS. You can just look at a couple of your favorite artists, modify what they wrote a little, and call it your own.