The elements required to create content can be divided in material and immaterial.
Material
The material ones are the « stuff » you are reporting on, the physical places, things, businesses, and people – although all these things exist on an immaterial plane as well – like the websites for businesses, Facebook, Twitter and email for people – and now brands too.
It’s interesting to figure out what’s the physical part of anything, as we (the audience) are still very much attached to the material plane.
For ratsdeville, this notion translates to geography – or location – namely the region of Montreal. Also, the venues as well as the exhibitions that are announced, are all physical, located in time and space.
Immaterial
As for the immaterial ones, that’s where you really get to work – for this relates to ideas, conceptual relations between things. It’s easy to get phony real fast in this territory. What I try to do in my own writing is to stick to facts and experience. Facts like: this show consists of x number of objects/images/of such medium (painting, photography, sculpture, etc.) about such subjects (nature, urban life, dreams, etc.). It’s important to name the obvious.
Then comes the experience
Now we enter the most interesting domain of subjectivity, your subjectivity: What do you feel? What images and/or ideas, memories, etc. does this work evoke in you?
Don’t be shy … or be shy and write about that too. Write anything and everything that comes to mind, you can always edit later. This becomes your prime content, your own creative voice – First Thought Good Thought. Like dreams, you will remember what you write about and might forget what you don’t write down.
If nothing still comes – no stress – allow for the experience to settle. Keep a gentle attention, perhaps in the back of your mind, for it. Be ready to write anything down when you hear the voice talking in your head about what you saw/heard/felt/thought.
Writing has everything to do with listening to, and hearing, that voice.
Éric Bolduc XYZ 