Jennifer Higgie
Taking a position: Art & Writing
14. – 26. 8. 23
In ‘Taking a Position: Art & Writing’ students will be introduced to the various approaches to writing that co-exist in the artworld: art criticism and art history, ‘think pieces’, poetry, catalogue essays, creative non-fiction, magazine and newspaper journalism, and press releases. As the title of the course implies, students will learn to identify what kind of art writer they want to be and who their intended audience is; how to shape an argument and translate a work of art into a language that is clear, engaging and original. Students will also receive guidance, if relevant, about how to make a living as a professional writer: from pitching ideas to working with an editor and promoting their work via social media.
Each day will be a mix of analysis, exercises, advice and discussion. Over the course of the two weeks, students will work on texts of various lengths, critique each other’s work and examine historic and contemporary essays, poems and creative non-fiction. We will be working from the premise that art history is a work in progress: one that for too long excluded people on the grounds of class, gender, geography, race and sexuality. Each day will be an exploration of the question: what is your position?
key data
- Venue
- Festung Hohensalzburg
- Date
- 14. – 26. 8. 23
- Requirements
- A willingness to work both individually and in a group in a positive and supportive manner, to share writing and ideas, to contribute to discussions, remain open to new ideas and to constructively critique each other’s writing.
- What to bring
- Laptop and a list of writing – in any form – that you find inspiring / moving / challenging.
- Teaching language
- English
- Co-teacher
- Sandro D. Huber
Jennifer Higgie
Jennifer Higgie “I have had a 25-year career as a writer: as editor-in-chief of frieze magazine and, more recently, the editor of The Annual,published by the National Gallery of Australia. I am now a full-time writer who has published books, written for numerous magazines, newspapers and artist’s catalogues and hosted a podcast; I also write screenplays. I am passionate about the role of writing in relation to art and will urge students – in whatever direction they want to go – to respond to artworks with an equivalent imaginative flourish.”
Website
Publications
The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2023. “Containers for My Feelings: Judy Chicago and Abstraction”, essay for the catalogue accompanying the Judy Chicago retrospective at the New Museum, New York, USA, late 2023. “60 Thoughts on Thin Skin”, essay for the catalogue accompanying the show of 35 painters titled Thin Skin that I have curated for the Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia, July 2023. “Disobedient Objects: Recent work by Lubna Chowdhary”, essay for a monograph published on the work of Lubna Chowdhary for the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, 2023. The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resistance, 500 Years of Women’s Self-portraits,Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2021.
