From: Darryl Baird (dbaird@umflint.edu)
Date: 12/15/02-10:29:53 AM Z
Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
>>Must one always be able to articulate precisely why, for what reason one did certain work? Especially if it is really glorious? Must one always be able to clearly articulate the why of a photograph? Can't one say: "Let the photograph speak to you!"? Is this a cop out?
>
Of course it's not and it IS sad, in a semi-public forum, this verbal
ability is forced to become so important. It seems inappropriate, like
the Frost quotation suggests, that a visual artist must restate in words
what has already been well "said" in images.
Even if we do articulate what, why, how, etc. it doesn't matter much to
the viewer does it? Should the artist know their own motivation and
internal psychology so well as to be able to divulge a coherent stream
of words about the process? I certainly couldn't when I was younger, but
I wanted to, so I decided to just shoot and look at the work until I
could figure out what made me tick. It only took ten years to do, but it
did happen. If I had been pinned down to be "articulate" I'm afraid (and
certainly embarrassed later) by what I might have conjured up to satisfy
that request.
````
Sometimes my critiques become inquisition-like too, but with the viewers
not the artist. I'd rather nail a student down who "likes" a photograph,
but doesn't know why. If they can understand and "see" what is in the
image, they can gain some very practical knowledge of how their own work
might improve or change for the better. I learned to NOT have the artist
speak in the critique, but instead the audience/viewers talk about the
images in an analytical forum. Once we have finished with an image or a
series, the artist can respond to criticism or analysis. More than once
the artist is surprised at what others can "see" in the work and this
produces a new awareness of other possibilities in the work and
sometimes a lively discussion follows. Sometimes not. We also look at
work semi-anonymous -- a group of several students work is displayed
together and we can pick and choose and compare between anything up at
the moment.
Out of curiosity, are these students also required to write about their
work?
Darryl
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