Writing Exercise Re-View

CTS 2 option Writing as Practice

In the next two weeks you are to write a review of and exhibition, film, play or any ‘cultural event’ of between 200 and 500 words,. It must include images and can include moving images and links to other resources.

Reviews of this sort, as with a great deal of writing, are often divided into three distinction sections.

1. The first section describes what the cultural event’ comprises of. The artist/designer/cultural producer, the venue the objects are described in enough detail for a reader to be able to understand what the cultural event’ is about. In this review you are to use as many images as you like, that are your own or from other reviews.
2. The second section situates the work on display in a number of relevant contexts. This can be, but not limited to, historical, political, sociological and conceptual contextualisation. You can often find a great deal of information you require to write this section in the cultural event’ itself. You should also do further research on the ‘cultural event’ so your review in informed and therefore informative
3. The third section is where you analyse the cultural event’ and the work in the cultural event’. For instance you can analyse and evaluate the curation and installation of the cultural event’, the way it is hung. You can offer a critique of the work itself. This could be in terms of its affectiveness and effectiveness (Affectiveness is the relating to or arousing the emotions and effectiveness is the efficient and productive of results.) This could be using your own knowledge of art and design or could be about how you directly reacted to the work, emotionally or intellectually. This is the most important section of any review and you will have to decide how polemical you want to be or how neutral you think you ought to be. Being over rhetorical might just show you as being ill informed, but on the other hand being too bland might just bore the reader. It is up to you to decide what tone and/or style you want this review to take.

We will examine the results of this exercise at the beginning of our next session.

Mark Ingham

October 2016