Art Writing: Developed and Distilled Upon the Page

About

This course centres the “art” in art writing and asks you to get up close and personal with why art matters to you. It focuses on language ­to ask what it means to write authentically and accessibly about your opinions on and experiences of art, and how to make that compelling for a reader.
In many ways, writing about art feels like falling in love in the sense that you let yourself be drawn into its circle; it holds your attention; you want to be seen by it, feel touched by it, and respond in kind. Sometimes you might also hate it, dancing in and out of each other’s affections. Ultimately, being an art writer requires a conviction that the relationality between art, aesthetics, and culture is the stuff of life, and this course works out of that premise.
Over an intensive two-week period, we prioritize close looking, attention, curiosity, and inquiry to consider how the intricacies of your thoughts, feelings, and responses to art can be developed and distilled upon the page. Examining works by different artists and writers, as well as visiting numerous galleries in Salzburg, we will be engaging in discussions that crisscross through painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and performance. Our focus will fall on elements like colour, line, shape, light, symbols, material, humour, harmony, awkwardness, and much more. Through individual and group exercises in looking, reading, writing, and editing, you will learn techniques to confront the blank page and experiment with form, style, voice, argument, and narrative to find your own original way of writing about art.

Course leader

Louisa Elderton

Target group

Requirements: none
What to bring: pencil, paper, laptop

Fee info