Event Recording: Artwork Descriptions
Recorded August 18, 2022 | Event Lead: Rae Maxwell-Ross
ASL Interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL
Captions & Transcript provided by RMR
[Discussions in the breakout rooms were not recorded. Additionally, the first couple of minutes of footage after returning from the breakout rooms was lost due to technical difficulties.]
Overview
This month we are exploring the Artwork Descriptions! During our community event we will discuss the concept of Image Descriptions and Alt-text for Artwork (of all media), explore creative approaches, and brainstorm solutions to possible areas of “access friction” we might encounter when writing artwork descriptions for our own or others’ artwork.
Artwork Descriptions are rooted in the practice of Image Description and Alt-text, but are tailored to an arts context. Alt-text and Image Description have been primarily used in digital spaces (websites and more recently social media) using a very utilitarian approach; these descriptions serve as a substitute for images, enabling blind people and people with low vision to engage with images in digital spaces. Additionally, some people who have cognitive disabilities or are neurodivergent find image descriptions helpful, since some imagery may be difficult to interpret or process.
In an arts context, artwork descriptions have taken on a new creative life, while still functioning as accessibility features for those who need them to engage with the work. Artwork descriptions should be added as accompaniment or iterative versions of many types of artwork including painting, sound art, photography, textiles, installation, video and film, and many other types of media.
Accessibility
ASL Interpretation
Auto-captioning
Engagement via chat
Raise hand feature and reactions available
Recording (with CC and ASL) provided after event
Agenda
8:00 to 8:05pm | Welcome!
8:05 to 8:15pm | Overview of Artwork Descriptions
8:15 to 8:40pm | Small Group Discussions (Breakout Rooms)
8:40 to 8:55pm | Large Group Share and Discussion
8:55 to 9:00pm | Final Thoughts and Prompts for further asynchronous discussion
8:10 to 9:00pm | Optional / Drop-in Q&A
Discussion Questions
How can artwork descriptions evoke an artistic experience while delivering the factual visual and/or audio information?
How can we transfer the “soul” of an artwork when communicating in an alternative media? What stylistic choices can you make in Artwork Descriptions that might more strongly tie them to the visual or time-based media artwork? (tense, sentence length, adjectives, etc?)
Do you think an artwork description is a translation, an iteration, and/or an accompaniment to a piece of time-based media or visual artwork?
What are some techniques that might help to consider or brainstorm an Artwork Description during the making process of an artwork? If someone else is writing your Artwork Descriptions, how might you use these techniques to guide their writing (either after the completion of the artwork during discussions while the work is still in progress?)
More Event Info
Post-Event Prompt | Artwork Descriptions
Please consider completing one or both of the following prompts and sharing your creation in the Community Forum Thread for Artwork Descriptions or on the #art-share-and-feedback Slack channel.
Choose an artwork (of any medium - visual, audio, video, etc.) and create three descriptions of multiple levels of details, which can be interchanged depending on the context or specific need:
Alt-text: short and concise description (about 140 characters; a short phrase or sentence.)
Standard artwork description: about 50 to 100 words with more details about the visual aspects and content of the work
Expanded artwork description: A longer description (maybe 125 to 150 words) which includes more information about the creative process and subject matter of the work
Choose an artwork (of any medium - visual, audio, video, etc.) and create two different descriptions that have different styles and/or emotional tones.
Consider what kind of language is best to create different feelings of the work and how you might use this to your advantage.
Does changing the writing style change how the description feels with the piece?
Remember that you don’t always have to use strictly visual language. Try thinking about the work in different textures and sensations.