Image right: Tess and Tahney on Wadawurrung Land (near Ballarat).
More international reciprocal collaboration, curiosity and exchange is needed.
– Tess Maunder
Sticky Teeth’s micro-interviews have less to chew off.
Ft. bite-size words from creative professionals at the intersection of the arts and writing.
Take a digestive change from dense arts writing with Tess Maunder’s in-brief thoughts on paying art writers, taking naps to meet deadlines, and big love for Raqs Media Collective.
xx Tahney
Tess Maunder is a writer, curator and editor based in Naarm/Melbourne.
Tahney: For you, what’s a big writing/language problem in the arts, and how can we work to overcome it?
Tess Maunder: Universal basic income would assist in allowing us all to dream, think, read, write and participate more. Art writers need to be paid more and on time. At a more micro-level, I would like to see art-world institutions more deeply value art writing, and not only reach out to writers when they want their exhibition reviewed. It should be reciprocal. We need to be asking how are art institutions investing in, and creating opportunities for art writers and discourse? I would like to see more platforms and airtime for experimental / interdisciplinary / collaborative forms of writing. I would also like to see all editors challenge themselves on working with writers outside of their peer-group, friend-group and city. More international reciprocal collaboration, curiosity and exchange are needed.
Language-adjacent arts practitioner/s that you love?
A fav quote from Raqs?
Give yourself a shout-out!
What’s been your most deeply satisfying project?
My mentorship with Raqs Media Collective in New Delhi was the most formative to my curatorial and art writing practice. They are the most brilliant of humans, intellectuals and artists. I worked with them as a curatorial associate for the 11th Shanghai Biennale. What that actually meant; lots of critical reading, fundraising, install workshops, viewing so much artwork, marketing, writing, copy-editing, event planning etc. What I found inspiring about Raqs is their commitment to their practice, and turning up for each other as a collective, and their interdisciplinary approach. Naps are okay, as long as deadlines are reached, and collective studio lunches are a must. Intellectualism is next level in India, and the West really has no idea. It was a privilege to attend art and academic events in New Delhi.
& the most recent thing you’ve released?
Review of Yona Lee at Gertrude Contemporary Naarm/Melbourne for Ocula Magazine.
Interview by Tahney Fosdike.
Connect with Tess Maunder here.
For more on arts writing:
Haneen Mahmood Martin talks about shared accountability and diverse perspectives in the arts industry, matching words with actions—i.e., more POC in leadership positions—and the use of clear, accessible, but impactful language.
Liv Collins has an infectious energy rare in an industry of pretension. I’m really excited to feature her in this sticky teeth micro-interview for her truths about writing education at art school and some hot insider arts reading suggestions.
Anna Kate Blair speaks on the intersection of art, writing, and time. She explains her major concerns for lack of enough resources for the writing process itself, and also touches on history, capitalism and imagining alternative futures for creativity.
Brussels-based journalist Sarah Schug discusses the challenges of language in the art world, the need for accessibility, the diminishing value of art writing and her proud accomplishment—a self-published book on Iceland’s contemporary art scene.
Writer and editor Erin McFayden reflects on framing artistic activities as labour and advocating exploring the good it creates rather than its economic value – as well as her reccs for some artistic endeavours.
Writer Yazmin Bradley touches on the pressure on authors under the commercialisation of Bookstagram – how can we reclaim the creative process from capitalism? She also explores working with her grandmother on her memoir and the possibilities of Substack for creativity.
Writer Suzanne Claridge talks about ephemeral approaches to working with language and their belief that good arts writing should not lose sight of its purpose: the reader and experiencing art.
Plurality is borne in Kollektiv Collective Pia Zeitzen and Sasha Shevchenko’s shows and texts via losses in translation. Here’s their thoughts on writing within (and outside) the constraints of language dualities.
Sammi Gale’s thoughts on collective action among writers, artists, and creatives, and the essentials of empathy and meaningful encounters within creative endeavours.
Universal basic income would assist in allowing us all to dream, think, read, write and participate more. Art writers need to be paid more and on time.