Bernie Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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justruss wrote:
No, that's not what I'm saying. But of course it's fine if you take it that way and don't/didn't want to attend at the risk of maybe letting a little personal defensiveness or a little obtuse language get in the way of seeing something you might ultimately enjoy-- or might change your opinion.
Briefly, what I'm saying is that a number of fields have taken to a sort of jargon arms race. This has been documented in the social sciences in particulars. In part, it has been suggested, to make one sound more science-y in comparison to the hard sciences. Yes, it does make things less understandable to laypeople (and that's a fault of sorts). And it might have some negative, knock-on impacts as a result. Language becomes a signal of one's standing in a field or milieu-- if one can pull off the right language without one's peers seeing it as a fraud. The exact same thing happens with clothing, cars-- yup, even art descriptions. We all do this in our own social, and work, circles without being aware of it. And, I'll note, you also employ some of these techniques, in writing, in the description on your smugmug page. Really, we all do it (me too!).
If you see my other comments in this thread, you'll notice that I'm not exactly a fan of convoluted, tired, jargon-filled language. And I think such language, in certain contexts, can be dangerous (hence the Orwell reference; an excellent piece). But all that comes with a big, big, big dose of: that's what artists and those in the industry do as a form of signaling, and it's not such a big deal that it should make us skip attending an event we might otherwise be interested in (are you going for the little cards next to the photos, or for the photos?); it's also hard to describe evocative things in short spaces, so maybe we should cut that starving artist/intern/event organizer a break for not having the writing skills or bravery to be the one who risks his/her job by totally ignoring the language used by peers.
Finally, I'd love it if professional photographers and galleries hired professional writers to craft easy to understand, concise, meaningful descriptions in those short spaces. Teapot meet kettle: As photographers we definitely employ a little hypocrisy when it comes to demanding professional pay for our professional services, and snarling when non-pros think they can do our job instead of hiring us-- yet when it comes down to it, how many of us fork over for the real deal in the periphery of our work worlds?
It's complicated, is all I'm saying, and there are reasons such language is used. And in this case the description, perhaps overwrought, does actually describe, in a short space, what the event is about. ...Show more →
Having worked in a couple fields professionally in my career, I understand the use and importance of jargon
within the particular field itself. Even then I agree with you that it gets old and tired in a hurry. However there is a certain point, as I have found, that jargon transitions to gobbledygook and communicates nothing. It may sound learned and make certain people gasp in awe, but is nothing more than covering up a failure of imagination and / or trying to elevate the banal (to use an artsy term).
As thebmrust noted, the notice may have reached the target market. Yet most museums rely on public funds, if not taxpayer dollars, and need to be more inclusive than a small segment of artists and public wannabe's. Why even the Guggenheim advertises for public donations and volunteer help despite whatever endowments it may possess.
It is not a question of lowering any bar. It is a question of educating (and entertaining) the paying public so that they can appreciate the role of the public institution, its mission, and the various arts in its collections.
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