Get Your Questions Answered by the Estheticist!
Please write to The Estheticist!
The Estheticist is a correspondence service that provides free guidance and answers questions about the visual arts profession. Questions may relate to professional dilemmas (how can I approach my curator friend to include me into a show without being pushy?), ethical issues in the art world (should I curate myself into a show?), conflict of interest-scenarios (should I curate my boyfriend into a show?), basic skills questions ( how does one enter into the biennial circuit?) practical matters (should I move to Berlin?) or serious theoretical issues (what is “social practice” and is it good for me?).
Write us with your question to estheticist@aol.com. EVERY SINGLE INQUIRY WILL BE ANSWERED. The answers to all questions will be made available at Smack Mellon on July 17, at 3pm, where Pablo Helguera will answer a selection of these questions at the live presentation of The Art World Home Companion. You will be publicly acknowledged for your question, except if you prefer to remain anonymous.
We see this as an urgent service and platform of communication for emerging artists, curators, arts educators, and art writers. We look forward to your inquiries!
Here is my question and answer to the estheticist - he responded immediately:
What should my artist statement look like for grad school applications? Should it be limited to one page?
Dear Rachael,
Keep it short and concise, one page. Be honest, but please avoid commonplace statements. Do not copy fancy words that you don’t understand from books, nor do try to play the game of ”I am going to write what I think they want me to tell them” because there is no way you will win it. Reviewers usually have read a million artists statements before yours and can detect a contrived statement from a mile away (I know I can).Do the following exercise: write three art statements. One of them should be the one that truly describes who you are and what you believe in. The other two you should write it imagining that you were someone else (a friend, colleague, etc). As you write the three statements, think about what makes them different from each other. Then show the three statements to other people to look at and ask them which one best describes who you are. If they all point to the one that you wrote imagining yourself, then you are good to go. If not you have to go to the drawing board.
Sincerely
The Estheticist.
Privacy Notice: All questions and answers to The Estheticist will be made available on July 17th at a public program at Smack Mellon. (We hope you can join us if you are in town). If you would like your real name not to be used, please email us. The questions will also be included in a publication meant to serve as a resource tool for professional artists. No real names will be printed but questioners will be acknowledged (unless, again, if you prefer not to, just email us). We hope our response was helpful. Thank you again for being part of The Ethicist!
On Saturday, July 17, at 3pm, Pablo Helguera will perform a broadcast of The Art World Home Companion. As Helguera states, “The art world has now a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a companion finally not to compete against or sleep with for convenience but just someone to laugh with, to love, learn and share our eccentricities, fears and desires as members of our little town which is the Art World.” His performance may include any of the following: special guests, American folk music, art recipes, site-specific travel tips from the Atlas of Art Commonplaces, strange manifestos, a special appearance by performing artist Larry Krone and the centrally important program The Estheticist, where Helguera and artist Ryan Hill will respond to listeners’ burning professional questions about their art careers. Don’t miss Helguera’s only scheduled participatory performance during the exhibition Condensations of the Social.
