1 There is no single ‘best’ way to write about art
3 Anyone can learn to write competently about art
The Job: Why Write about Contemporary Art?
3 Artist/dealer/curator/critic/blogger/‘Kunstworker’/journalist/historian
4 Out of the blue: where art-criticism came from
The Practice: How to Write About Contemporary Art
1 ‘Fear is the root of bad writing’
> The first time you write about art
> ‘The baker’s family who have just won the big lottery prize’
> The three jobs of communicative art-writing
2 How to substantiate your ideas
> Provide factual or historical evidence
3 The audience: grounding specialists and non-specialists
> Do not ‘explain’ a dense, abstract idea with another dense, abstract idea
> Load your text with solid nouns
> Gorge on the wildest variety of strong, active verbs
> ‘The road to hell is paved with adverbs.’
> Organize your thoughts into complete paragraphs
> When still in doubt, make a comparison
> Simile and metaphor: use with caution
The Ropes: How to Write Contemporary Art Formats
1 How to write an academic essay
> How to write a short news article
> How to write a short descriptive text
> How to write a press release
> How to write an auction catalogue entry
> How to write an exhibition review for a magazine or blog
> How to write a review for a newspaper
> How to write op-ed art journalism
> How to write a catalogue essay or magazine article
4 How to write an artist’s statement
> The ten most common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
> How to write about a single artwork
5 Writing formats compared: one artist, many writers
How to read about contemporary art
Rules of grammar (and when to break them)