A Short Guide to Writing About Art, 4th Edition
November 28th, 2003by Sylvan Barnet
ISBN: 0673522938
I decided to read this book because recently I have been drawn to visual arts in a way I never have before, and I was looking for some ideas about how you are “supposed to” write about art. Not that I have a strong desire to write according to a formula; I just thought it would be helpful to take a look at expected structures and content.
This book is a basic primer, aimed at college undergraduates with little or no experience in writing academic essay on artistic topics. As such, a great deal of this book was beside the point for me. (I don’t need help in how to construct an essay, I’ve always thought that writing notes on index cards for later shuffling was ridiculous, word processors and laser printing really have changed some rules so experts offering assistance need to catch up.)
The section of the book that I found useful was the second section on analysis. “Getting Ideas: Asking Questions to Get Answers” is more than half the section, and the best part of the book. In it, Barnet proposes a series of general questions as well as questions particular to each media type (painting, sculpture, photography, etc.) that a writer can pose to generate paper ideas. I found these questions interesting, because they give me more to think about when I’m viewing a work of art — and help me move beyond a simple “I just like it.” Barnet urges student-writers to start with “What is my first response to the work?” and then investigate possible reasons for their initial reaction.
I would recommend this book to beginning comp students who aren’t having much success with more traditional “how to write a paper” books; composition teachers looking for new ways to engage students in writing projects, and people who are interested in developing a vocabulary to begin talking about art.
