I am delighted to say that I have been granted the opportunity to publicise my November exhibition through a slot on the “Big Screen” in Bradford’s Centenary Square. Every now and then the Not just Hockney website, in which I am listed, is given access to this valuable public means of communication.* I am invited to present three images of my work, and a brief personal statement. This gives me a great chance to put about the word concerning my South Square show, which will run throughout the month.
Good as this opportunity is, there is a down side to it. The personal statement is limited to sixty-eight words. Have you ever tried to sum up something about yourself, that you really want to communicate, in sixty-eight words? It really isn’t easy, and I invite you to have a go.
In fact, I have had plenty of practice in this kind of condensed writing. When I was an academic (many years ago) it was part of the business of publishing articles that they are preceded by a short abstract. A similar test was offered by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, for which I wrote numerous pieces about the Balkans. The EB has extremely strict space criteria. I don’t recall that any of the pieces I was asked to do for them was ever as brief as sixty-eight words, but the skill of saying things exactly and within strict word limits is something I developed. There are tricks that can be learned readily. Every adjective has to be viewed with suspicion, for example.
* www.notjusthockney.info. Not Just Hockney is a site dedicated to recording and publicising the work of artists, past and present, from the Bradford area.