Using Literary Genres in Thematic Writing about Art

This piece was done as part of a biographical study. The image is based on a detail found in a painting of Marie de Rabutin-Chantal the Marquise de Sevigne.

Another way to approach writing about your art is to address the themes you deal with. Frankly, this aspect is more difficult for me. This is where I have trouble setting limits.  

Scanning instagram I see that there are people who make art about social issues, family, humor, lampooning, and meta art making - making art about art. 

I’m going to borrow the genres of literature as a springboard for thinking about themes. Think about the genre and how it may apply to you. It may not apply to your body of work, but feel free to use it when writing descriptions for individual pieces. 

Fiction

Adventure - this genre features people who, willingly or not, face extreme physical challenges that often are life or death deciding. Does your art inspire daring?

Fable - a tale which ends in a moral often involving talking animals. Does your art tell a story that is meant to impart a message? Is there a way in which you use the fable model in your artwork?

Fairy tale - Fairytales and folklore are close cousins. Fairytales are based in Europe, have royalty, a magical creature or thing, a problem and a magical solution. Many have a happy ending. Does this describe your art? Your take on life? What you want to portray to the world? 

Fantasy - The genre of fantasy covers anything from unicorns to talking bears. Imagine how this might apply to your work. Whimsical is a word that works well along with this genre. 

Folklore - This type of tale is one that is a traditional tale, passed down by word of mouth, and is commonly known among people. 

Historical fiction - deals with events of the past. It is storytelling that uses the framework of a particular historical period to inform the whole. Love vintage? Telling stories with vintage materials? Could this be your genre? 

Horror - Too scary for me, but perhaps you like being terrified and having your hair stand on end.  Does your work deal with the seedy, horrific or pathological? I hope not, but if so this might be your genre. Or you might just be creating political satire. 

Humor - Everything from joke books to hilarious memoir this genre sees the light side to events. Quirky, erudite, clever or restrained this genre brings a smile to your face. Does your artwork do that? Do you do satire? Play on words? See the funny side of things? Does the irony of a situation make you burst into giggles? This might be a genre for you. 

Mystery - this can be crime and grit or Agatha Christie, but it could also encompass the unsolved mysteries of the world or the things that seem out of our control. 

Poetry - uses rhyming, text structure, or other constructs to create an emotional response to the world. Does that sound familiar to you? 

Realistic fiction - This is the genre that could be things that have happened, but they haven’t. They were made up. I’ll bet a lot of us could use this genre to describe at least some of our work. 

Romance - need I say more?

Science fiction - this genre uses applies possible scientific theory to storytelling. This seems like a genre rife for collage artists, among others. 

Sports stories - Does your work revolve around sports? This might be for you. 

Tall Tale - These tales often start with a grain of truth, but the story takes on a life of it’s own. The fisherman who catches a 6 inch fish that turns into a 3 foot long devil of a fish with horns. Does your work stretch the boundaries of reality? This might be a hint for you. 

Nonfiction

Biography/Autobiography/ Memoir - a recounting of the events of a person’s life experience. While most art can be said to be biographical to some extent, some falls clearly in the realm of memoir. Make use of the construct when talking about your art. 

Drama - all the world’s a stage. This genre is all about what to do on that stage. Standing front and center. Claim it.

Essay - is meant to put forth an opinion and sway the reader to adopt this point of view. Perhaps your artwork is a visual essay. 

What do you think? Can any of these genres help you frame your artwork? Can they inspire vocabulary to use when describing your work? 

If you feel that this is helpful and would like to see a post with lists of words typically associated with these genres leave a comment to let me know. 

Documenting Artwork and Inventory Links

Post number four in this series. 

Learning about documenting artwork and applying what I learn to my own art continues. As I move forward with this it seems to me that providing links to the articles I find most helpful and reflecting upon that will be more helpful to others than me reinventing the wheel. It is also apparent that this series is better spaced out further. (The actual documentation takes time. More time than one would think.) So from here on out the Documenting Your Artwork series will post on the first Monday of the month. The Writing About Your Art series will remain the same.

Today's great find is GYST (Get Your Sh*t Together), a wonderful resource for artists about the business of art. While there are plenty of fine articles, the two that stand out as most pertinent for documenting your artwork are:

Documentation
https://www.gyst-ink.com/documentation/

and

Artwork Inventory
https://www.gyst-ink.com/artwork-inventory/


The Documentation article has plenty of good information about the visual documenting of artwork. This is particularly helpful to those who are planning to apply for publication, exhibitions, etc. I found the additional tips section had plenty to think about.

As a mixed media artist, I took note that labeling my work simply as mixed media is not very helpful for documenting purposes.

My big take away?

Document very soon after creating your piece. My latest piece includes a strip of plastic that came from the soba noodles I cooked for dinner one night, but it looks like washi tape. The likelihood that I will remember that in years to come is... questionable. The piece I finished the day before yesterday is still fresh enough in my memory that I can jot down the full list of materials.

Here's a picture of a fraction of the items I might use in a piece:

A fraction of the items I might use in a mixed media piece. 

What you see here is gelli print on deli paper, caught color on a piece of packing paper from a fragile purchase, stamps on tissue paper, a yellow, paper crown rescued from a cracker imported from England, a fortune cookie fortune, a prismacolor marker, a Stabilo pencil, two Sakura gel pens, a homemade stencil made from a pasta box, acrylic paint, liquid pearls, washi tape, embroidery floss, lace dyed with ink, and a Stays On stamp pad. 

Do you see how it would be hard to remember all of that later? 

As for the Artwork Inventory article, there's a lot of good information for me to chew on. Honestly, they got me in the first paragraph.  

Inventory number. As a librarian I have been used to ISBN (International Standard Book Number) numbers, Library of Congress numbers, barcodes and call numbers. So many numbers. So many ways to keep track of information, index it, retrieve it, sort it, and sometimes simply play with it. I've also been used to keeping data, tracking circulation, numbers of patrons checking in, checking out, renewing, over dues, collection age, collection value, collection circulation, etc. I am used to keeping this kind of information. 

And yet it never occurred to me to give my work an inventory number, much less assign numbers which would provide information. This is another task for me to consider and employ. Watch that google doc I posted, it just might have a few additions. 

Let me know what you think of these articles and the ideas. Were they helpful to you? Was any of the information new to you? 

Beginning the Documenting Process

How many of you start a piece with a concept, a title and a clear vision of what you want to express? That’s what I thought. Not a grand percentage. 

To document your work you will need to name each piece. It may seem difficult to work back and name each one, but if you are planning to track and catalog it must be done. 

Below are the categories I am starting with in my own effort to document my work. Are there other details to add? Yes. Yes, there are. Will I add them to my document later? Maybe. I have created a very simple Google document that you can copy and use for your own documenting. 

Title

byline (including collaborators, if any)

photos

size

medium/materials

date

location

description

artist’s statement

I have created a very simple Google document that you can copy and use for your own documenting. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BbREMeYYkTAHJOdRDclJu1WYMPR_fRGCkWkBoeEp6LA/edit?usp=sharing

The process seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Working through it takes time and perhaps more than one cup of tea. Personally, I am finding it empowering as I see my work together in one place, documented and looking official. 

I’m not berating myself for having not done this sooner and I hope that you will feel just as relaxed. Who knew when I started that this would be something I would feel was necessary? I certainly didn’t know where this art would take me. So the documenting begins in this season. It began when the time was right. I hope you enjoy seeing your work anew as you document it and that you will check in next week as we continue to explore. 

Documenting Your Artwork Posts

Do you have careful records of each piece of art you have ever created documenting all its aspects from creation to present? I don’t either. Don’t worry. I’m not going to judge. 

What has occurred to me lately is that I have not the slightest record about even my largest pieces. As a librarian entrusted with organizing information I realize what a problem this could cause me down the road. 

Maybe, like me, you create art and move on. Maybe you have not shown your work yet, maybe you are not even aware that you need to provide certain information about your work if you want to submit for publication, have a show or create a catalog of your work. Perhaps you half-heartedly say “I’m just a hobbyist. I am not a ‘real’ artist.’” Perhaps you are secretly hoping someone will protest and tell you that you are a real artist. Perhaps you dream of showing. Guess what? You will need to document your work. So you might as well start now. 

Full disclosure - I am no expert. I do not have a wonderful document full of the information I need to detail my art. I am starting now. That is great for both of us. As I start on my journey to find the way to do this that works best for me, I will be sharing that information with you. You can take the information you want and leave anything that doesn’t speak to you. 

I do, however, have a background in library cataloging, the importance of these records and a healthy interest in learning more. 

On Mondays, I plan to post about the process of documenting your artwork. Let me know if you are interested and if you have any particular areas of interest. If I don’t know the answer I will look for it. 

Meanwhile, make a list of your art. See how many pieces you can remember. Next week we will begin the process of document them.