tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990099773805921773.post4892494323586242596..comments2023-09-09T08:48:46.303-06:00Comments on What is Interesting Writing in Art History?: Introductionjamesprestonelkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02480095376765987733noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990099773805921773.post-52629211318879746372013-09-07T08:48:54.472-06:002013-09-07T08:48:54.472-06:00Thanks for that. About the second point: true. But...Thanks for that. About the second point: true. But perhaps there is not much is always gained by "unwrapping" something like a page of blurred text: it is blurred so that it conjures legible text, and "unwrapping" (interpreting) that just means acknowledging the author's intention to gesture in the direction of legibility. <br /><br />The first point: yes, to a point: the information in captions serves several purposes (copyright, references that enable readers to go see the actual image, reminders of size). So I couldn't generalize: but most of what happens in captions is disciplinary habit and requirement, not narrative necessity.jamesprestonelkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02480095376765987733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990099773805921773.post-14705527067994171342013-09-07T06:31:43.952-06:002013-09-07T06:31:43.952-06:00“Captions are a custom like call-outs, and they ca...“Captions are a custom like call-outs, and they can be discarded. Clearing them away helps focus a reader's attention on what the pictures are saying.”<br /><br />--But isn’t the title of a work, the dimensions and media important to understanding the work? Viewing images in a book is bad enough; displaying images on the net--a highly filtered picture of the art that can be viewed on a phone or a jumbo-tron--is the difference between viewing a live stage play and sitting through a movie.<br /><br />“… and so I want the stakes to be as high as possible: compelling images, compelling texts. Writing that demands to be read, images that call out to be seen. Dispersing either one creates new possibilities, but those games have fewer rules, they are easier to play. Aesthetics can conceal many unresolved moments.”<br /><br />--But isn’t unwrapping the concealment of “unresolved moments” the essence of art appreciation? the dialogue between artist and viewer? Does everything need to be an inch from the end of our noses?<br />Jahner (Ken) Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14607461351043106610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990099773805921773.post-10740877152448649922013-09-02T06:07:15.867-06:002013-09-02T06:07:15.867-06:00Once again, Mr. Elkins, you have fascinated and in...Once again, Mr. Elkins, you have fascinated and inspired me. The considerations of theories of images in themselves, versus the same considerations of text on images--and everything in between--can be the MFA student's minefield or rose garden. I have seen enough MFA work to form the opinion that the tendency is to slide one way or the other, with the best solutions being images in series that stand on their own. I have worked with palimpsest theory and am currently exploring the phenomenon of allusion in images: cracking the nut of Twombly's work as a beginning, but this article has opened a new path.<br />Thanks again,<br />Jahner (Ken) JohnsonJahner (Ken) Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14607461351043106610noreply@blogger.com