Admission requirements
This course is an Honours Class and therefore in principle only available to students of the Honours College. There are a few places available for regular students.
Description
There are many different ways of writing about art as there are authors. In this series of lectures and workshops, students will experiment with different approaches to ‘Writing Art’.
The course will familiarise students with diverse ways of writing about art. This will be achieved through a series of lectures by experts and through workshops in which students will experiment with different approaches to ‘Writing Art’.
There are as many different ways of writing about art as there are authors. However, it is possible to distinguish specific genres and traditions in writing art, such as art criticism, performative writing, art fiction, writing by artists, etc.
Is it possible to bridge the gap between language on the one hand and the visual experience of an art work on the other? How can a personal experience of art be conveyed to the reader in a convincing and engaging way? What is the status, or the function, of text in relation to the art work, what are the possibilities and the potential limits in writing on art? Is it possible to engage in an art critical, academic or artistic discourse on visual imagery and experience on the basis of text; and if so how does one do that?
The course considers a wide range of writing on art, from examples of art criticism to contemporary and experimental modes of writing on art.
The aim of the course is to stimulate students to write and to develop a personal ‘voice’.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
have developed writing skills;
will be able to use different ways of writing to express ideas and opinions about art and design and, in the case of art students, on one’s own work;
be able to critically reflect on art and design and on one’s position in the field as an artist, designer, critic or researcher.
Timetable
12 meetings of 2 hours in semester 1
Wednesdays from 15-17 hr, at the KABK.
- Wednesday 28 September 2016 – Writing art criticism 1
- Wednesday 5 October 2016 – Writing art criticism 2
- Wednesday 12 October 2016 – Writing as experiment 1
- Wednesday 26 October 2016 – Writing as experiment 2
- Wednesday 2 November 2016 – Artists’ writing 1
- Wednesday 9 November 2016 – Artists’ writing 2
- Wednesday 16 November 2016 – Performative writing 1
- Wednesday 23 November 2016 – Performative writing 2
- Wednesday 30 November 2016 – Fact and fiction 1
- Wednesday 7 December 2016 – Fact and fiction 2
- Wednesday 14 December 2016 – Writing art 1
- Wednesday 21 December 2016 – evaluation
Location
Royal Academy of Art (KABK), Prinsessegracht 4, Den Haag. Room PC.202.
Programme
Lesson 1+2: Writing art criticism > 28 September+5 October
How to write art criticism? What is art criticism? How to convey visual experience and engage the reader? Who is your audience?
Lecturer: Janneke Wesseling
Art critic NRC Handelsblad; Co-director PhDArts, Leiden University; Professor at the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University; Professor Art and Theory, Kabk The HagueLesson 3+4. Writing as experiment > 12 + 26 October
The subject or topic of a text will be explored in and through the writing itself, for example by using ‘constraints’, such as a cadavre exquis.
Lecturer: Sander Uitdehaag
Writer and photographerLesson 5+6. Artists’ writing > 2 + 9 November
Artists writing on their own work, as critics and/or as researchers.
Lecturer: Nicoline Timmer
Artist and writerLesson 7+8. Performative writing > 16 + 23 November
How can writing inform/transform our artistic practice and vice versa? We will be exploring this two way process by applying a performative approach to the written word through poetry.
Lecturer: Anna Arov
Artist and poet, Editor of Versal, Lecturer at Kabk, Interactive Media Design departmentLesson 9+10. Fact and fiction > 30 November + 7 December
What is the role of fact and fiction in writing on art? What are facts when dealing with art? How can fiction be applied in writing on art? Is there a limit?
Lecturer: Dirk Vis
Writer, editor at De Gids, Lecturer at Kabk, Graphic Design departmentLesson 11. Writing art (workshop) > 14 December
Final assignment: students choose a personal perspective and approach in writing a text.
Lecturer: writing coach Liesbeth Fit
Independent writer and editor; Lecturer at Design Academy Eindhoven and KabkLesson 12. Evaluation > 21 December
What did students learn? Did students develop a personal perspective, or several perspectives, on writing and on art? What is their ambition?
Lecturer: writing coach Liesbeth Fit & Janneke Wesseling & other writing teachers
Course Load
This course is worth 5 EC, which means the total course load equals 140 hours.
Seminars: 12 seminars of 2 hours
Literature reading & practical work: 1 hour p/week
Assignments & final essay: 104 hours
Assessment method
Every theme (six in total) is connected to a writing exercise, this text will be rewritten. All texts together will form a portfolio that will be assessed.
Dialogue and performance in class.
Blackboard and uSis
Blackboard will not be used in this course.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Reading list
Literature will be announced in class
Registration
Enrolling in this course is possible from August 17th until September 5h through the Honours Academy, via this link
Contact
Remarks
This course will admit a maximum of 10 participants from Leiden University, and a maximum of 10 participants from the Royal Academy of Art.