From "radical unreality" to "leggy plasticity", Interpretation Matters Handbook dissects some of the most baffling examples of art lingo going, kickstarting a conversation about written interpretation practice in galleries. With the active involvement of the people who are intimately involved in the process?the curators, the artists, the gallery education professionals, and importantly, gallery visitors ? 'The Interpretation Matters Handbook' starts from a place that recognises there is no one single way of writing about art, and no one single audience that text panels are addressing. It recognises cultural debates about the role of wall texts in galleries, and indeed, whether there should be any at all (a position popular in the US). In short, writing about art in galleries is a complex and often difficult task. This aspect of gallery practice is rarely part of our professional visual arts discourse. To an unusual degree, matters of written interpretation are 'below the radar', an in-house concert that also needs to evolve, be questioned and evaluated in the same way as other aspects of exhibition making. AUTHOR: Dany Louise writes about the visual arts and cultural policy, contributing to The Guardian, New Statesman, a-n Arts News and her own blog. She works strategically with arts organisations and speaks at art events throughout the UK. 30 colour and b/w illustrations
