In this module we will break down the process of visual analysis by focussing on 4 key principles of good descriptive writing.

1. KVB117 Visual Art Open Studio 1
Week 10: Rationale - Description

2. Assessment 2: Folio, Blog, Rationale, Artist Review
Assessment 2 submission has 2 components:
1) Creative Work and 2) Written Submission
Your Creative Work portfolio (PDF):
• Photographic documentation of ALL works produced this semester including independent and in-
class activities; accompanied by
• a blog that documents the development of all of your work throughout the semester, including
artist research and reflective notes;
It should
• Provide evidence of your responses to all set tasks (see list on Bb) Criteria: Involvement (40%)
• Demonstrate application of material experimentation, critical reflection and artist research
Criteria: Creative Development (30%)

3. Assessment 2: Folio, Blog, Rationale, Artist Review
Your Written Submission (DOC or DOCX):
Rationale (400 words)
• Describe two (2) of the works you have produced this semester with reference to the key terms:
materiality and affect/concept.
Artist Review (3 x 200 words = 600 words)
Identify 3 new artists/works (ie not the ones that you discussed in Assessment 1) and
• Describe each selected work giving emphasis to the role that materiality plays in their
composition/s; and
• Discuss how the work relates to your current studio interests.
Criteria: Quality of Research/Reflection (20%); and Communication (10%)

4. Dale CHIHULY The Sun, 2006
5.5mH, 1,573 hand-blown glass elements
In this module we will break down the process of
visual analysis by focussing on 4 key principles of
good descriptive writing.
In visual analysis, your descriptions provide the
evidence for your interpretations and ideas.
(Question: What is the other form of evidence
that you can draw upon?)
Good descriptions should:
• employ a range adjectives and similes that are
relevant to the work.
• be accurate
• draw a connection between the materiality of
the work and its composition.
• always proceed from the general to the
specific.

5. Dale CHIHULY The Sun, 2006
5.5mH, 1,573 hand-blown glass elements
Intense
Spiralling
Yellow
Warm
Curly
Energetic
Explosive
Luminescent
Fragile
Good description aims to paint a verbal
picture of the work – start by
brainstorming adjectives that are
relevant to the work

6. Dale CHIHULY The Sun, 2006
5.5mH, 1,573 hand-blown glass elements
You can then use these adjectives as the
basis for your descriptive passage:
The Sun (2006) displays Chihuly’s
fascination with the outer limits of the
glass-blowing technique. The work is
composed of hundreds of slender yellow
glass spirals that explode outward from a
central core. These forms convey a
writhing, luminescent energy that reflects
the fiery heat of the glass-blowing
technique. The fluidity of these bold curling
forms contrasts with the actual fragility of
the glass tubes.

7. Your description needs to be faithful and specific
to the work.
Consider:
The photograph depicts some cigarette butts. (too
general, vague)
The photograph depicts three used cigarette butts in
close-up, giving emphasis to their crumbly, burnt
characteristics. (better, more complex use of adjectives)
The photograph depicts three used cigarette butts in
close-up, giving emphasis to their crumbly, burnt
characteristics. Penn found these on the street outside
his New York City studio and used them as the basis of
series of celebrated photographs that changed the way
that many critics saw his work. (Good, but be careful to
avoid lengthy descriptions of process or context – need
to focus on connection to materiality)
Irving PENN
(American 1917-2009)
Cigarettes Series 1972-75
platinum palladium prints, 58.4 x 45.7cm

8. Your description needs to draw a connection
between the materiality of the work and its
composition or content.
Consider:
The photograph depicts three used cigarette butts
in close-up, giving emphasis to their crumbly,
burnt characteristics. In this photograph Penn has
made use of the platinum print – medium that
gives heightened emphasis to mid-tones (Ware,
Jäger, & Mccauley, 1996). The effect of this
process is to draw attention to the delicate
variety of textures and tones that occur on the
surfaces of these abandoned items.
Reference:
Ware, Mike, Jens Jäger, and Anne Mccauley.
‘History and Practice of Platinum Printing’. History
of Photography 20, no. 3 (1996): 279–279.
Irving PENN
(American 1917-2009)
Cigarettes Series 1972-75
platinum palladium prints, 58.4 x 45.7cm

9. Similes can be used to quickly paint a verbal
picture.
The artist has used foil and printed cut-outs
to create an impression of a mountain range
that is stark and apocalyptic.
… suggests heat despite the cool colour
palette
.. like an alien, denuded mountain range
.. as if in a dream, in which the terrain is
both close and distant simultaneously.
Yuji HAMADA
(Japanese b. 1979)
PM#08-2011, 2013
Chromogenic print, 27.9 x 35.6 cm

10. The artist has made use of multiple light
sources in this photograph which creates
a dream-like effect…
... as if the protagonists are under water.
… an otherworldly impression, suggestive
of the flows of spiritual forces.
… where the figures are captured mid-
action as if suddenly exposed by an alien
intruder.
Lieko SHIGA
(Japanese b. 1985)
Don't look back from the series Rasen Kaigan, 2012
C-type print, 177.8 × 120 cm

11. Devendra BANHART
(American, born 1981)
Sun Sack for the Nut Moth 2008
The minute ink forms that comprise the
drawing…
…resemble leaves or feathers and ripple
across the page. (great, but remember to
connect to materiality..)
…flow across the page like tiny wriggling
larvae before dissolving into vaporous
clouds at the edge of the page. This water
damage gives the work an ephemeral
feeling as if the forms are melting before
our eyes. The artist has made use of the
capacity of ink to be both crisp and blurry.

12. Finally…
Always proceed from the general to the
specific in your descriptions.
We suggest the following progression
of ideas as you write:
1. Author, Title, Date, Material/Media
2. General description of work (ie
overall compositional qualities)
3. Detailed qualities of work –
especially in relation to material
4. Summing up (clarify connection to
material)
Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper

13. Description: questions to answer
1. What is the medium of the work?
(ie painting, sculpture, video, etc)
2. How big is it?
(in general terms – do not provide dimensions)
3. What are its chief materials?
4. What is the primary gist of the composition? (‘Gestalt’)
(eg. movement, colour, shape, space, mass etc)
5. What adjectives can be applied to the work?
6. What similes can be applied to it?

14. Tips for description:
• Remember to address materiality
• Be specific - focus your discussion on the work
at hand
•Describe the work/s concisely but accurately
progressing from general to specific details.
•Avoid vague or imprecise terms such as ‘nice’,
‘interesting’, ‘beautiful’, ‘artistic’ and
‘aesthetically pleasing’.
Activity:
For this week’s pre-studio session, please
review the tutorial slides in the Week 10 folder
and use the prompts to make some notes about
Jennifer Steinkemp’s video installation, Blind
Eye (2018).
I have provided an example of the drafting
process using Hannah Collins’ photograph
Grapes (1989). Enjoy!
Lieko SHIGA
(Japanese b. 1985)
Don't look back from the series Rasen Kaigan, 2012
C-type print, 177.8 × 120 cm

15. KVB117 Visual Art Open Studio 1
Week 10: Tutorial Slides

16. Week 10 Activity
Use the prompts below to make some
notes about Jennifer Steinkemp’s video
installation, Blind Eye (2018).
Apply the following headings as you
draft your description:
1. Author, Title, Date, Material/Media
2. General description of work (ie
overall compositional qualities)
3. Detailed qualities of work –
especially in relation to material
4. Summing up (clarify connection to
material)
Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper

17. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
For example:
1. Material/Media
black and white photograph,
pigment printed on cotton paper
2. General description
> depicts a cluster of balloons and a
flattened cardboard box
>portrait format
>directional lighting from the right
hand side of the image.

18. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
3. Detailed description
>printed in two sections, joined
horizontally through the middle of
the image. This becomes part of
the composition.
>shadows of subject matter and
shadows on/of the matt paper
combine in the work
4. Summing up (clarify connection
to material)
>uses both the dimensions of the
paper sheets and their matt
texture in an active way
(identify any contrasting
elements/effects in the work)

19. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
So:
Hannah Colllins’ Grapes (1989) is a large
black and white photograph, pigment
printed on cotton paper (1). The work
depicts a cluster of balloons and a
flattened cardboard box in a domestic
interior – apparently illuminated from the
right hand side of the image by an unseen
window (2). The image has been printed in
two sections, joined horizontally through
the middle of the image. The seam of this
join becomes part of the composition as
the shadows of subject matter and
shadows of the paper join combine in the
work (3). The work draws our attention to
the materiality of the image, by
contrasting the surface of the shiny
balloons with the matt texture of the
prints. (4)
(114 words)

20. Jennifer STEINKAMP (American b.1958)
Blind Eye, 2018 Installation view
Installation Video

21. Apply the following headings as you draft your descriptive notes:
1. Author, Title, Date, Material/Media
2. General description of work (ie overall compositional
qualities)
3. Detailed qualities of work – especially in relation to material
4. Summing up (clarify connection to material)