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Judith S Miller's avatar

I would love to have you take apart the incomprehensible writing in ART FORUM from several years ago.

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Ann Landi's avatar

I haven't looked at Artforum in years, but I was given the March 2025 issue and will see what's up these days. It's still fat with ads, surprising in these lean years when most print journals have folded. Will get back to you.

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Curly One Oh's avatar

Please Ann, cease and desist! These examples are all gems, succulent little morsels from a consciousness unfettered by the boa constrictions of taste, heaving lusty breaths of drama that air freshen our drab quotidian existences. Let them be!

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Sharon J. Carlisle's avatar

Ba ha ha ha...! Excellent!

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Ann Landi's avatar

Hey, they're all out there in cyberspace, but I can't reveal how to track them down. And there's plenty more. I'll keep an eye out for a new collection.

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Jemison Faust's avatar

Loved all your samples! It reminded me of a quote on the back of my studio door, the worst artist statement I have ever read...lest I ever forget:

"Streaming inspiration of the suffering of existence and the seemingly endless whirlpool we find ourselves in has yielded this visual outflow."

Makes me laugh every time.

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Ann Landi's avatar

Priceless.

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Sharon J. Carlisle's avatar

As one who struggles to put two sentences together, and no I have not studied journalism, or even able to absorb what little actual training I have had in how to write in English (supposedly my native language, yet still, unavailable to me it would seem), I do recognize from this low level of ability 'bad' writing. I can't analyze and tell you what is wrong, I just feel it and exclaim "oh, come on!"

Thank the universe there are those who can, and do, write so well that it can make me weep, scream, sigh, laugh... Thanks ever so, Ann, for being one of those - a writer who evokes emotion as she observes, analyzes and responds. Bravo!

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Ann Landi's avatar

Aw, shucks.

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Sharon J. Carlisle's avatar

Yeah. I know. I have a tendency to gush when something or someone has made a difference in what living feels like. But, my gushing is coming from an honest place, and I mean it. Cheers. :)

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SUSAN PASQUARELLI's avatar

Amen, and thank you again and again. Does it begin with the artists ?

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Diane Sanborn's avatar

Did any of them actually study journalism? Thanks Ann.

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Ann Landi's avatar

I'm not sure journalism studies have anything to do with it, but one hopes writers who study the subject learn to curtail their worst impulses. I did not become a writer until I'd spent quite a few years as a copy editor and then as a line editor....and then I had the good fortune (generally) to work with a few editors who smacked me down when I really got out of line. As they say, it's a process. For the most part, I don't think a lot of publications, particularly on the internet, have the resources to pay close attention. Or they just don't care.

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Katherine Hill-Miller's avatar

These are hilarious—especially the first one where the sun gets its yolk popped. Ouch! So pretentious it’s funny….

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Ann Landi's avatar

Yup. This is why astronomy can get so messy....

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Donna Tang's avatar

Good lord! I had to stop reading, every time. And as an aside, have you heard about The New Yorker’s FORMER art critic, Jackson Arn?

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Ann Landi's avatar

Poor Jackson. I guess he got a little out of hand at a party of the top-tier NYer staff and was maybe overwhelmed to be in that company. I have no idea what he did that was so offensive it warranted dismissal. As such a young'un, in my view, he should have been taken out back and given a severe reprimand, or maybe a good spanking. One friend claims the notoriety won't hurt his career; I'm inclined to disagree. Too bad. I enjoyed his writing.

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Alli Berman's avatar

A joke I think you would enjoy: Waiter is being tortured by an unrelenting guest. He couldn't take it any more. The guy calls him over for the 5th time to complain: "Waiter, this is a BAD potato!" Fed up, the waiter grabs the potato, puts it into the palm of his hand and proceeds to smash down on it right into the guy's face, "Bad potato, bad, bad, bad potato!" And sprints off! When I read the crap people call "good writing" these days, I want to smash it into mental oblivion! And turn the page after smashing an imaginary potato to get rid of it. The problem with badly written copy is that it wastes our precious time!! UGH.

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Susan Washburn's avatar

That first excerpt was downright painful to read.

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Adria Arch's avatar

Made me laugh out loud, Anne! Loved this piece. Bad writing - it’s everywhere.

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