Text in Art: Jenny Holzer, Richard Tipping & Xu Bing

1665 Words7 Pages
Traditionally, representation in art primarily focuses on the visual image. In contemporary art making practices there has been a substantial shift towards the use of letters and text in art and as the artwork itself. Text and letters are either utilised in the design element of the work or as a direct communication to the audience of the intent behind the work. Contemporary artists who have explored the use of text in their artworks include Richard Tipping, Jenny Holzer and Xu Bing, with each considering the concept of text as art with slightly different approaches. In addition to artist utilising text with their works, text also plays other important roles in the art world. Traditionally, most artworks simply use text as a way of giving a title to their work and also supplying an explanation of their work to inform the viewer (artist’s name, year of production, medium and in some cases an artist’s statement of intent). Furthermore, audiences may also be informed or persuaded by the words of art historians or art critics. Historians may assist in the understanding of why a particular work was done a certain way, such as the art movement it was a part of thus influencing the artist’s techniques or what events were impacting the world in the period the work was created, affecting subject matter. Art critics on the other hand, may stimulate the viewer’s experience of the artwork or hinder it due the positive or negative comments made, thus creating preconceptions of the artwork. Text as image can be seen in many artworks but also in our everyday lives. In Microsoft Word, a program available on most computers, word art is a feature which also you to take any text and create exciting and creative words from it, changing shape, colour and font style. The text created from this feature can be used in many ways, from advertising to cd cover and school projects. Also

More about Text in Art: Jenny Holzer, Richard Tipping & Xu Bing

Open Document