August Topic | Artwork Descriptions
Hello Residents! Let's talk about Artwork Descriptions!
Artwork Descriptions are rooted in the practice of Image Description and Alt-text, but are tailored to an arts context. Alt-text and Image Description have been primarily used in digital spaces (websites and more recently social media) using a very utilitarian approach; these descriptions serve as a substitute for images, enabling blind people and people with low vision to engage with images in digital spaces. Additionally, some people who have cognitive disabilities or are neurodivergent find image descriptions helpful, since some imagery may be difficult to interpret or process.
In an arts context, artwork descriptions have taken on a new creative life, while still functioning as accessibility features for those who need them to engage with the work. Artwork descriptions should be added as accompaniment or iterative versions of many types of artwork including painting, sound art, photography, textiles, installation, video and film, and many other types of media. Our hope is that artists will include an Artwork Description along with any artwork information (such as title, year created, media, etc.) and consider the style and presentation of the artwork description as an extension of the artwork. Just as you have incorporated an artist statement into your art practice, you can view artwork descriptions (and accessibility features overall) as another important element of your professional art practice. A description for your artwork is both an expansion of your artist statement and an added layer of the art piece itself.
While it’s recognized that many visual artists struggle with writing, taking the time to create artwork descriptions for your own work - or collaborating with someone who has stronger writing skills - is an excellent way to enrich your art practice, while also expanding your audience. If writing isn't your strong suit, finding a writer or poet who can create your Artwork Descriptions (or who wants to create a collaborative artwork with visual, sound, and written elements) is an excellent way to practice iterative and interdependent artmaking!
There are some general guidelines for all artwork descriptions, but depending on the broad category your artwork falls into, you will want to pair these descriptions with other accessibility features, such as alt-text or transcription.
We have create two guides - one for Visual Artwork (painting, sculpture, fibers, photography, etc.) and one for Time-based Media (sound art, video, film, performance, etc.) . We recognize that these two categories are imperfect and often overlap (especially with installation art) so we hope you will explore both guides. You will find a fair amount of information that is the same, with some key differences.
After you have looked through these guide, please consider the below discussion questions, and add your thoughts, ideas and questions as a response to the discussion thread.
Guides
Visual Artwork (painting, sculpture, fibers, photography, etc.)
Time-based Media (sound art, video, film, performance, etc.)
If you prefer you can view this information on the SDA Website instead
Discussion Questions
How can artwork descriptions evoke an artistic experience while delivering the factual visual and/or audio information?
How can we transfer the “soul” of an artwork when communicating in an alternative media? What stylistic choices can you make in Artwork Descriptions that might more strongly tie them to the visual or time-based media artwork? (tense, sentence length, adjectives, etc?)
Do you think an artwork description is a translation, an iteration, and/or an accompaniment to a piece of time-based media or visual artwork?
What are some techniques that might help consider or brainstorm an Artwork Description during the making process of an artwork? If someone else is writing your Artwork Descriptions, how might you use these techniques to guide their writing (either after the completion of the artwork or during discussions while the work is still in progress?)