We're leaving the world of first-person narrative, which is sometimes called autobiography or memoir. This form of writing relies on storytelling and an embrace of lived experience.
We're entering the world of the critic. This is largely a form of writing that lives in the world of third-person description, analysis, and evaluation. It's really not "about" the writer, though the writer's first-person voice might make an occasional appearance, especially toward the end of a piece of criticism, after the writer has earned the authority to offer a personal response.
Almost everybody has had the infuriating experience of reading pretentious and meaningless writing in a gallery or in an art book or art magazine. This obscure language is called International Art English (IAE). This essay is a good introduction to the idea. The initial essay that introduced the concept of IAE was written by Alix Rule and David Levine. Here's a link (scrolls sideways).
Check out this example of International Art English (IAE): Kim Beom's Animalia
Your fun assignment for next Tuesday, February 1: After reading the two essays linked above, write your own example of terrible art writing that conforms to the kind of writing they call IAE. This should be a single paragraph of at least five sentences. This is an exercise in comedy. But as we all know, there's a lot of truth in comedy.
Enter your paragraph into the class discussion board no later than noon on February 1. Have fun! Questions? csmith@dcad.edu
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