Web Resources for Writing About the Arts

Course materials by Michael Filas

This page provides a supplement to the course syllabus, reader and texts for English 276: Writing About the Arts.

Writing about the arts can take several forms, from journalistic review essays of works to condensed thumbnail review briefs of works; from artist's statements (to clarify intentions, for application to a program of study, for a grant application. . .) to public relations writing on behalf of an arts organization (theatre, film, museum, gallery, performing arts organization, opera, symphony, popular music, fashion. . .); from web sites for fans of the arts to sites representing the official web presence of an artist or work. In what capacity can you see yourself working as a writer about the arts?

Here are a few diverse sources for online reviews and capsule reviews:

• Looking for hip reviews of film, art and music? Check out Seattle's edgy and often funny tabloid, The Stranger. This paper has a young open-minded readership, but it's not for the easily offended. Free use of swear words and individualized perspectives are a charming element of this paper's writing.
• Looking for an example of local hip reviews with a bit more editorial restraint? Check out the Valley Advocate. Click on the articles (left side of screen) for longer reviews, and film clips; short quips on films can be found on the right side of the screen. Of course, you could always pick up the paper in Bates lobby, but that would mean burning calories to actually pick up the paper with your hand and carry it to a reading location--and you'd have to turn pages--and there would be no keyboard!
• For mainstream national reviews online, checkout the New York Times.
• Here is a link to Rolling Stone, a venerable music (and film, and tv) site where you can read longer reviews and articles, short reviews, and post your own reviews. To post you have to have a login, but that is free.

Other course related links:

• Here is a link to poetry written about the visual arts.
• Here is a link to our film text: Film: An Introduction.
• Here is a link to Mass MOCA, where Robert Wilson's installation, "14 Stations of the Cross," is on display until October 26. Check out the PR writing on this site in which the museum looks to draw an audience and support funds.
• Interested in applying for an arts grant? Do a google search on your town or your field, such as "arts education grants" and see what comes up. Here's a link to Northampton Arts Council so you can see what a typical grant application form and requirements involve.
• Are you a fan? Fan sites are all about writing about the arts. Do a google search on your favorite band or movie star and see what you find. Here are a few fansites:
  • A fansite: for film director George Romero.
  • A fansite: for actress Jodie Foster.
  • A fansite: by and for actress Chloe Sivigny. (Note: when I searched for fansites about Chloe Sevigny that were not be her, I found some interesting writing, but it was surrounded by photos of other young female celebrities, partially nude. That's a different sort of "fansite" than we're studying in "writing about the arts".
  • A fansite: for William S. Burroughs, a writer and artist.
• Many bands, artists, and films have their own websites. Here are some examples:
  • A band: Spearhead.
  • A film: 28 Days Later.
  • An artist: Victor Vasarely.
  • A video artist: Bill Viola.
  • A writer: Kurt Vonnegut.
  • A writer: Harold Jaffe.
  • An architect: Robert Venturi.
  • A performance artist (beware--some of these images are harsh, and the site is translated, by Google, from French--not for the squeemish): Orlan.

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And now for something completely different: manifestos and artist's statements. Sometimes an individual, or more often a group of artists (including painters, poets, sculptors, writers, musicians, and other types of writers) will collaborate on an approach to creative expression. The most widely known movements in our culture almost all grew out of European origins and they include Impressionism, Fluxus, Surrealism, Dada, Cubism, Bauhaus, and Futurism. If you're not a big fan of visual art, or art history, you may not care much about art movements. However, think about hiphop, punk, disco--these movements are more closely associated with music and fashion, but they are indeed art movements even as they are or were simultaneously cultural phenomenons. Perhaps a website, song, or an album cover holds manifesto-like language. Check out these examples:

• Here is a link to the Futurist Manifesto and a painting by F.T. Marinetti.
• Artist's statements by Moby. Go to "Moby Info" and then click on "Essays." When I bought Moby's CD "Play", I had no idea it would include philosophy on fundamentalism and veganism, but it did. Moby is not directly addressing his music here, but using his cultural influence to spread the word. Is this writing about the arts? Yes and no, but it is certainly validated by the arts, for without his music he would lose the distribution channel for his essays. Look at Schwarzenegger's most recent film, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and see if his Republican political beliefs are not represented. Except for "Ben Hur", there are few Charleton Heston films in which the current president of the NRA is not wielding a gun. The arts are political whether there are essays or manifestos or not.
• Artist's statement in a song, Bodhisattva Vow by the Beasty Boys. In hiphop, which is primarily a black music form, you are most likely to find statements about the art form (music making) and purpose or inspiration in the lyrics of the songs themselves.

So, as students learning to write about the arts, how can manifestos and artist's statements help you? Well, if you are an artist in any medium now, it may help you to try and write about your reasons and inspirations for expressing yourself creatively. If you are not an artist of any kind, then you are exclusively a critic when it comes to writing about the arts. In that case, seek out artist's statements and manifestos (in essays, song lyrics, published articles, CD booklets) to add context to your critical writing and reviews--any additional information about the artists or the work--historical contexts, political contexts, stage-of-career contexts--can add validity and dimension to your response to a work of art.