MA Week 15 - the tension between the written and the visual

Reflection on taught session, Friday 29th January 2016

Use of language in art 

The afternoon session was intended to be about an article called “Critical language and visual art : post-structural analysis”, discussing the language used to describe art. But I hadn’t read it and the reason I hadn’t read it was because I knew it would take me a long time to read and digest it (I wasn't alone). I find academic papers in the arts and social sciences difficult to follow. I know I’ll only get better at dealing with them by reading them, but at this point I didn’t have the time to deal with this one, or better said I wanted to prioritise creative work at that point. 

A discussion regarding the use of language around art took place in any case and it raised some interesting points. One view was that the language used needs to be shared and egalitarian; whether spoken or written, it has to be understood by both sides. However this was not necessarily the case in practice, with art critics using their own jargon. There was also a view that art in the middle ages was controlled by social and religious paradigms which meant that there was a set, controlled, view of it and meaning of it. We are now allowed to question things more, so this no longer exists. Other views were that language is powerful and on the other hand, that visceral or spiritual experience does not need to be, and indeed cannot be, communicated by words. A further point was that we are moving to communication by emojis and immediate communication by Vines, so our written communication is slowly being eroded. 

I find a tension in this. I have always written lots. I am a copious maker of notes and I think in words and I write lists and plans. But this course is about creative practice, and a big chance for me to move to a more visual way of communicating, and to improve that same visual communication. It’s a Master’s degree, so there is going to be a need for academic reading and writing, of course. But often I feel the perceived need for communicating in words overshadows the driver, the need, the urge to create artwork. One of my fellow students, who has spent a lot of their professional life dealing with language, also feels the same. The tension spills over into my time management. I’m behind on my blog but I have to sacrifice it for the sake of my creative work (or else I won’t have anything to write about!). How to resolve: keep the blog writing to one evening a week, unless there is something particular to really get into.