Workshops & Education

So, can you tell me a bit about yourself?: The Writing Table with Alison Sinkewicz

May 2, 2019
7:00PM

Why conduct an interview? What are the different kinds of interviews, and how do they respectively contribute to contemporary art discourse? What responsibilities do interviewers hold towards their subjects? How do interviewers condense and edit interviews for a public without losing meaning or distorting their subject? How should interviewers prepare before crafting a dialogue with their subject?

 

In this writing workshop, art and design writer Alison Sinkewicz will parse the nuances of the interview as a form of writing and discuss strategies of research, editing, and responsible reportage. Interviews are a fundamental component of journalistic research as well as a primary source for art writers and critics, providing a glimpse into an artist’s practice, research and process and shaping the way an artist’s work is interpreted and framed. While interviews are commonly disseminated in print form, the proliferation of online art publications opens up to the possibility of video and audio interviews. Reflecting on this shift, Sinkewicz will also address the distinctions between print and audio-visual interviews, and the possibilities and limitations such forms engender.

The Writing Table is a series of arts-writing talks and workshops held in the Or Bookstore and dedicated to investigating the shifting relationship and potentialities between writing and visual art practice. The series brings together experienced arts writers as facilitators in a discussion and writing workshop aimed at cultivating new voices in arts writing, exploring alternative modes of writing about art, and examining writing as a vehicle and as a process for thinking about and producing art. From art criticism, to curatorial writing, to writing as artistic practice, the Writing Table considers the ways in which cogent and critically engaged writing plays a fundamental role in furthering arts discourse and in fostering community. The Writing Table is open to individuals from all backgrounds and experience levels, from recent graduates to writers working in other fields who are interested in the visual arts.

This event is free but space is limited. Please RSVP to writingtable@orgallery.org

Participant Bios

Alison Sinkewicz is an art and design writer based in Vancouver, BC. She studied Art History at the University of British Columbia and gave the 2013 valedictory address. Her work has appeared in Wallpaper*, Dwell, VICE, Pitchfork, and she is currently writing a five-part series on Vancouver’s affordability crisis and the creative community for Canadian Art. Though this series, Sinkewicz has interviewed a number of artists and cultural workers to present an in-depth look at those affected by the property crisis and how it conditions cultural production and dialogue.