quote

From the book, Again the Metaphor Problem and Other Engaged Critical discources about Art. A conversation between John Baldessari, Liam Gillick and Lawrence Weiner, moderated by Beatrix Ruf.
pg. 12-13
Weiner:
I still believe that when you are dealing with a book, there is no essential difference between visual images and a visually drawn language image. They are the same, they both have meaning.
Baldessari:
I think we share that idea
Weiner:
There is no hierarchy
Baldessari:
I dont see any difference between the word and the image; one is exchangeable with the other.
Wiener:
They both carry history with them-sociable metaphorical meanings. All we were doing in Zouz was using different skills that we both accepted as completely equal. That made the book a possibility.

END OF QUOTE.

On tutorials and critiques.

Bubbles by Diana Afanador

I have grown accustomed to working on my own. I actually like the "silence" (I always have music on) of not talking. From time to time, it’s good to hear what other people are thinking about my work. Peers and friends are good, but I think tutorials give this certain moment, where people feel free to be critical without sounding competitive. I had some tutorials last week, and I found them very interesting, each person has a different perspective on the work and thus, you gain a different perspective on yours.
I sometimes loose sight of my work, so it’s important to hear what others have to say. The problem is learning to know what to hear and what to let go. What to build on? What am I interested on?
Because my work right now is more of a search, then I have to check myself constantly when it comes to decision making. Is this what I want? Why? Does the work need this? (Actually this is one of the comments that I liked the most on the last critique, strip your work down, and find out what it needs.) I don’t want to go baroque in any way.
I’m searching in many ways: materials, scale, colour, texture, from painting to sculpture and then back, nothing is complete at the moment, this is my research at the moment, though soon I will have to move onto my dissertation.
Today I have another tutorial. We will see how this one goes.

Honestly, I'm a writer.

Once, a dear friend told me that I was born a writer. I had come to Newcastle University to do the MA in Creative Writing, and since day one, doubts and questions about this new life had haunted me. From her perspective, being a writer is so intricately knitted into what you are, that you just come with it. Call it talent, tendency or maybe luck; certainly there seems to be something in a person's nature that inclines you this way or the other. Her words still make me think. The first year of my MA (I'm doing it part-time) is over, and I'm still trying to figure out what makes me a writer.

As a kid, I was constantly encouraged to read. My wonderful parents used to take us to the Banco del Libro (Book's Bank), where we would browse through a colorful selection of glossy children books for hours. Even earlier than that, they used to take us to hear story-tellers perform at the Teresa Carreño, Caracas' most important theatre.

With this background, and maybe hinted by my name, is no wonder that I was fascinated by fantasy and story-telling, wonderful worlds with lots of things happening. Reading has made me a writer. This is not a matter of the egg or the chicken. Without reading, I wouldn't be a writer. But I would bet that's mostly the way for many of my fellows in crime.

Reading Janet Fitch's 10 rules for writers, I discovered another element that makes me a writer. I'm obsessed with honesty. Not only the concept itself, but with the extreme, almost itchy, need to be specific about telling the truth, leaving nothing behind. As a conversation companion, I get that might be fastidious (yeah, fancy word huh?). As a writer, that honesty is essential. 'That’s why writing is a lot of work, and demands unflinching honesty.' (Janet Fitch, July 13th, 2010).

In my relationship with my work, I find that the most difficult part of honesty - being honest to yourself - needs to be applied constantly. After going through a six-month-long self-examination, the process of seeing into myself daily and identifying what makes me a writer, who am I as a such, what's my work about, themes, style, etc; I feel I'm now that much closer to getting a full, defined picture. To help me on my way, I've started a new project: Diary of a writer in the making. More on that later.