I think good arts writing should transcend and forget itself so as not to take itself so seriously.

 –  Suzanne Claridge

Sticky Teeth’s micro-interviews have less to chew off.  Ft. words from creative professionals at the intersection of the arts and writing. 

 

In this edition, 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. 

 

xx Tahney

Suzanne Claridge smiles at the camera, sitting in a lush green park
www.suzanneclaridge.com

Suzanne Claridge is a writer, time-traveller & artist of Fiji-Indian and Anglo descent.

She grew up in Iutruwita (Tasmania) and currently lives and works on Gadigal land (Sydney, Australia). Their poetry and arts writing can be found in Cordite Poetry Review, Running Dog and Performance Review. 
 

Tahney: From your POV, what’s a major arts writing problem, and what should we do about it? 

Suzanne Claridge: I find that, at times, arts writing can feel incredibly dense and inaccessible. I think gatekeeping and institutionalised culture shape the conditions around this type of work, where exclusivity and jargon can make art inaccessible to broader audiences. I think good arts writing should transcend and forget itself so as not to take itself so seriously. Arts writing should not lose sight of its reader and should enhance the arts experience. 
 

Your favourite arts person working with language? 

It’s hard to pick a favourite. I have been influenced and inspired by many writers and arts practitioners. An artist working with language that I really admire is Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money. An example of her practice that comes to mind is her artwork £100,000, an installation comprising of text and soil, which was exhibited for No Show in 2021 at Carriageworks. 

I love seeing how writing and art intersect and how writing as an art practice takes form beyond characters on a page to shift the ideas of text away from purely written content into something that can be experimental and materially ephemeral. 

A good intro to their work? 

 Here is a recent interview between Jazz Money and Neika Lehman for Artguide, discussing all things poetics, film and art! 

What have you been up to lately? Any highlights?

I recently had some arts writing published in Performance Review, where I reviewed and incorporated a poetic response to Angela Goh’s performance work Pattern Recognition.

My favourite writing project I’ve worked on so far is actually being published later this year for unMagazine’s 17.2 issue, RETURN. I cannot wait for this issue to drop, and will announce when it’s live on Instagram!

More of Suzanne Claridge here.

Interview by Tahney Fosdike

Hey! My name is Tahney. I design words that fill the space between you, your creative project, and your audience.

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