It’s painfully obvious when arts organisations use ChatGPT to write their Open Call descriptions and social media captions.– Carmela Vienna
Sticky Teeth’s micro-interviews ft. words on the intersection of arts and writing.
Carmela Vienna has a name with enviable syntax. And her copy does, too. Why? Because she understands the importance of cultivating voice wherever it pops up (even social media).
Recently, I stumbled on LinkedIn’s cute capacity for community. It’s counter-intuitive to hang out here, but there’s something in the air, and I’m often lurking on this once musky platform with other arts professionals. Carmela is one connection turned familiar digital face, often popping up on my newsfeed with her insights from wrangling words at Round Lemon and Zealous Co.
It’s fab to dig into her perspective some more in this micro-interview. We chat about art world social media – particularly the overreliance on AI and need for better content – and treating marketing more seriously within arts orgs in general.
Hopefully, this is a useful one, and you can take Carmela’s ideas into your own practice, work or life.
xx Tahney
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micro-interviews with arts writers from across the globe.
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Colliding the worlds of art, marketing, and dance teaching, she is Co-Founder of Round Lemon, Marketing Coordinator for Zealous, with freelance artist social media management soon to join her repertoire.
Tahney: What writing issues are you seeing popping up in arts marketing?
It’s painfully obvious when arts organisations use ChatGPT to write their Open Call descriptions and social media captions. The same repetitive phrases ‘Let your creativity shine’ and ‘Let your creativity flow’ are the giveaways. Another irritating one is ‘This is the announcement you’ve all been waiting for’ followed by some random uninteresting news.
This speaks to how undervalued and overlooked social media and marketing roles are, in general. It screams, “I don’t have time to write this post”.
Many arts organisations cram 3+ marketing and social media roles into one due to funding cuts and other squeezes on their time and resources.
I might sound like a hypocrite because I use AI too. In fact, I used it to clean up parts of this text you’re reading right now. Using AI to support your arts writing can be a game-changer, but only if used correctly. It’s great for brainstorming ideas, checking mistakes, and improving readability. Artists and practitioners can even experiment with AI as a tool in their practice to create interesting outputs.
Please, please, please, DO NOT copy and paste whatever ChatGPT spits out. Instead, edit it and inject your unique voice back in. Being a writer is a gift, and we shouldn’t let our authentic voices dissolve into the AI abyss; It should act as a speedy assistant, so long as it doesn’t strip away your creativity.
Who is someone in the arts working with language that we should look up to?
At the risk of this micro-interview bleeding into a macro-interview, I’m going to highlight two!
Jenny Holzer was the first artist whose use of text in her work really stood out to me. I first encountered her work in 2019 at the Tate’s Artist Rooms exhibition, and I was taken by her ‘Truisms’ – her simplicity, boldness, and personal touch seemed to transcend art for me. Her short provocations made me question everything, and I’m sure that anyone on this planet could look at her work and truly be moved.
Abuse of power comes as no surprise – Jenny Holzer
Following on from my point on using your authentic voice, I think that Birmingham-based artist Leah Hickey has truly nurtured her own. Reading her text feels like tracing your fingertips across smooth velvet; it has an intimate and endearing quality, romanticised by her tender language. Her writing resembles poetry across all spheres—her art, her newsletter ‘Emotional Outbursts,’ her research references, and her publishing venture Tentative Press. Even her choice of typography blends seamlessly with her work. Her practice is beautifully cohesive, like a curated package wrapped in pretty pink paper with a red bow.
Writing or otherwise, what have you been up to lately?
Any other art texts you’d like to share?
Read: Easy Read Artist Contract by Jack Tan (so useful and interesting project)
Listen: Love Letter to the Art World by Gabrielle de la Puente (then write your own. What would you say?)
Subscribe: Leah Hickey’s newsletter Emotional Outbursts
Carmela Vienna talks about the overreliance on AI in arts marketing and social media, and the need for more inspired, well-edited content, as well as treating arts marketing more seriously within arts orgs in general.
Too, with the Venice Biennale as a whole, in this unearthliness, the curatorial was a blur of impact and thought. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to achieve anything cohesive. I’m still not sure if it’s possible to look at, en masse like this, the variety of mediums, ideas, and cultural contexts and get it and not just be overwhelmed, weary, and clueless.
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.