Write about your art

Kirstine Autzen
2020
Kirstine Autzen

Artist / Photographer

(sometimes curator and art

writer)
Why would you write about your work?
 WHY ARE WE HERE?

A good process
A good text
YOU AND YOUR RECIPIENT HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS!
Production perspective
 Get a good hold on the
subject, gather material, and
uncover possibilities
 Get to know your own work
better
 Get comfortable
communicating your work
and ideas
Recipient perspective
 Provide an exciting
(reading) experience
 Create trust and make the
reader curious to know
more
 Make the reader take
action
DESIGN YOUR WRITING PROCESS

2 important rules of separation

To think-write vs. Editing a text

Writing for yourself vs. Communicating to others

THE ORDER OF PRODUCTION
Make the task clear to yourself. Where do you want it to end?

• First produce: create raw material, come up with ideas, write away
• Then edit: locate the good sections, edit for clarity, find and write
what is missing

_________________________
• Then communicate: find your angle, create order, refine the language
FREE-FLOW WRITING
What does your work consist of?

What was your motivation for making it?

Are there any particular premises for the creation of your work
that needs to be clear to us?

Does your work refer to anything specific in or outside of the

art and craft world? And how do we see this reflected in your
work?

Does the work relate to previous works you have done or is it a

new direction in your practice?

What materials do you use and why are you attracted to them?

What inspires you?

When I think about what my work is made of, I don’t know what to
answer. It is made of clay, I guess? It is also made up of my dreams.
My dreams are more important than the clay. Or actually, the
process is dreamlike, maybe that is more precise. I am trying not to
think with my rational mind when I work, I try to let my mind
wander. So is my work still made of clay then?

The clay that I use comes from Bornholm. I use a lot of it, there is a lot
of waste, but it can be reused so its ok. Reuse… pudndn djdjd it is
important, this reuse, but I cant say why. Modd ndndnd ddmdd
annoying excersise I feel stuck.. Ddnd h,. Must keep writing.
Yesterday I was in the studio and the clay really wouldn’t
coorpoerate.
FREE FLOW WRITING EXCERCISE
20 min. Of writing.
EXPAND YOUR WRITING – FIND THE TEXT DOORS

WHAT IS A TEXT DOOR?

• Print and read
A door could be: • Mark your doors

 A claim that is not substantiated • Spend 10 minutes

writing concentrated at
 A term that is only just mentioned every door

 An experience / event / thing not described

 A reference that is not elaborated.

I work with clay, because I like the connection to nature. I manipulate
the clay between my hands and experiment with finding interesting
shapes. When the objects are fired, I place them in different discrete
places in different environments, where they become one with the
existing context.
I work with clay, because I like the connection to nature. I manipulate
the clay between my hands and experiment with finding interesting
shapes. When the objects are fired, I place them in different discrete
places in different environments, where they become one with the
existing context.
I work with clay, because I like the connection to nature. Clay is dug out of the
underground and transformed into objects of symbolic or functional value. This
is a tradition that is as old as mankind, and I find that this longstanding
connection between humans and the soil connects me not only to the soil under
my feet, but also to a long lineage of makers.

I manipulate the clay between my hands and experiment with finding interesting
shapes. I am trying not to stagnate in figural or representational shapes. Instead
I look for shapes that reveal the movements of my hands in the clay.

When the objects are fired, I place them in different discrete places in different
environments. This could be in a public school or a university. Because the
figures are small and somewhat discrete, they become one with the existing
context, and you may not notice them straight away.
FIND YOUR OWN DOORS
40 min. Writing exercise
EXPAND YOUR WRITING – FIND THE TEXT DOORS

WHAT IS A TEXT DOOR?

• Print and mark your
doors / or read on
A door could be:
screen and mark with
underlining or yellow
 A claim that is not substantiated
color
 A term that is only just mentioned • Spend 10 minutes
writing concentrated at
 An experience / event / thing not described every door

 A reference that is not elaborated.

 HOW TO CREATE THE DESIRE TO READ
1. Specific (what do you see)
"Portals" are small and medium-sized ceramic pieces of
porcelain hanging on the wall. Architectural
visualizations of portals have been drawn on the
surfaces, as on pieces of paper.
3. Sensory (look and touch)
It can be delicious bubbles in the porcelain layer,
crunchy and on the verge of exploding, or a molten
granite stone that runs out through the glaze in a
glossy metallic stain.
2. Storytelling (set the stage)
Ten years ago I found a small, round rock on the beach.
The stone had a small hole in the top and made the finest
imprint - a bit like an eye - when I pressed it into clay back
at my studio.
4. Metaplan(abstract language)
"The First Supper" is a ceramic work which, through
the table cover, points to the lack of women in history.
Feedback
PHASE 3: EDIT AND FORMAT

In this phase we only add text if it is absolutely necessary! It is more

about creating order and peeling away.

In this phase it is all about moving text around, deleting words and link
sentences together.
 VISUAL AND TACTILE TEXT!

Print out, cut up, move around

• Make notes, create post-its with keywords

• Draw your structure

• Number it! Decide the length of every paragraph in the text

• Play up the language, change words, and consider the tone and
style of the text, find metaphors and synonyms
ON-SCREEN EDITING
Make notes on a piece of paper while reading your text: what topics are most
important in your text

In a new document: write the most important keywords in order of importance

Copy good text over from first document and place them under the relevant
keywords. Leave bad text behind.

Edit out redundant text

Connect the paragraphs and make smaller headlines every so often

START A CONVERSATION
If you could put any topic on the agenda – what would it be?

(connect to Signe Sylvester’s class)

5 min to consider and make notes.