Writing and Art

An intensive weekend workshop by the PICT Creative Writing School!

Images speak louder than words, we are told, or that a picture is worth a thousand words. And yet, images give rise to words, and vice versa—often in an attempt to comprehend or explain, whether intellectually, affectively, or both.

This workshop addresses the relationship between word and image. How does one render in words that which is without language but calls for interpretation? How does one render in painting or sculpture a text that may or may not invite, permit, or resist visualization? And, more specifically, how do texts respond to art in the museum environment? How does art respond to texts?

Entering a museum or a gallery, we immediately notice numerous texts that supplement the exposition of silent objects. At times, these words hold one’s attention longer than the objects to which they relate. What is the function of these texts, including wall texts and labels? How do they prepare us to “see” a work of art? Do they distract, instruct, or redirect our attention?

Throughout the workshop, we will discover and practice different types of museum writing, exercising the efficacy, economy, and complementarity of words and images in the museum context. One of the current exhibitions in Paris (such as “Gertrude Stein & Pablo Picasso: The Invention of Language” at the Musée du Luxembourg) will serve as the playground of our workshop.

The workshop will span three sessions over a single weekend. On Saturday morning, we will venture a general introduction on the relation between word and image in the history of art. On Saturday afternoon, we will stage our museum visit and analyze the visual and textual components of the exhibition. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we will practice writing our own labels and wall texts for the same exhibition.

Note: Museum tickets are to be acquired by course participants.

About the instructor

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  Tatiana Senkevitch

  Tatiana Senkevitch is a historian of art and architecture with a diverse range of research and teaching interests spanning from painting to ballet and from urban planning to skyscraper architecture.