Do you give each piece of art you create a title?
Do you think a title serves a purpose?
Do your titles follow a pattern?
I try to give each photo I take a title. I think it enhances the experience for the viewer. Naming something makes it real and gives it meaning I think. There are some untitled works I have that I am waiting on inspiration to come...ha. I think it makes a difference. It helps the photographer/painter tell the viewer something about the piece and maybe explains the reason for something in the piece that might be misunderstood, not easily seen or questionable.
I also enjoy thinking up titles. I try and use song titles,book titles or clever twists on common phrases. That works pretty welll! Some of the titles are concepts I got when my photograph reminded me of a story, song, a book or movie etc.
For example the photo below reminded me of the short story "The Reach" by Stephen King in which an elderly lady who lives on an island just starts walking on onto the iced over water at the shore and keeps on walking...presumably to her death...but who knows? So I used "The Reach" as the title, but I don't expect non King readers to know get it....yet it still seems an appropriate name for other reasons. The pier reaches out iinto the fog. So it was a win-win situation.
This next photo of two rodeo participants chatting it up before their turn to show their horses, was begging for the title "Bridle Gossip", an obvious play on the common phrase "Idol Goossip" but relating it to equines. I thought it to be very clever...ha.
This next photo was easy as well. As soon as I saw the Obama paraphernalia in the background I knew it had to be Barbershop and Obama related....so I used the old phrase "Change and Haircut two bits" (younger artists may have never heard this expression though...lol) and shortened it to "Change (Obamas tag line)......and a Haircut. Pretty clever again huh...lol?
With photography...I never know a title before I shoot the photo...it always comes after...so my question to painters is...do you ever start a painting with a title in mind or do you always title your work after viewing the finshed product? Or do you skip titles altogether?
And please...show your work if you want to!
Mark
Hey Mark, once again I think we may have been twins in the womb. I put a lot of thought into titles because I feel it adds romance to the artwork. A title can also act as the first step on the bridge to viewer understanding. I've gotta tell ya, I can spend weeks on some titles. Others are simple and straight forward, trying not to be too clever or pretentious. It can be a fine line, but I usually go for the laugh. I have even allowed friends to title some of my work with an observation or feeling I never thought about.
I guess I should add a couple examples... I'll use some of my LIL' DEVILS...
The first was one I intended to entitle OLD-FASHIONED DEVIL or MEDIEVAL DEVIL, but my better half kept calling it SNEAKY DEVIL - The name stuck.
This next one I called PEEKABOO for its obvious potential. The name of a baby's game for a creature from hell seemed comically outrageous, too.
And last, I'll post my crazy morphing hijacked human that I called BENT OVER BACKWARDS. I got tired of writing the appropriate but lengthy title, so now I just call him BOB. Ha!
Edited by MikeStreet, 2 weeks ago
I understand what you mean when it comes to naming your work. I did a series of spiritual peices that only those who understand the names of the titles and how they relate to it's symbols would understand. For example the peice below was given the name "Caridad" after the saint Our Lady of Caridad and her symbols include the peacock.
I also chose to paint a piece about St Barbara. Her symbols include a tower, the colors red & white and lightning.
My latest series that I'm working on called Domesticism features a series of photographs that show how a modern day homemaker would care for her family. The photo below is called "Sunday Dinner" is a pun on the traditional Sunday dinners of the past.
I've always tried to put a name to each piece but my latest work has truely stumped me. As of right now I'm calling it "Untitled Nude"
I guess my titles have to do with the project I'm working on at the time and my nude doesn't fit into any particular project. Probably because I started it 9 years ago...lol. I came across an artist that gave his artwork names. I mean real names like Monica or Greg, regardless of the subject matter. I thought that was interesting. Each piece was personal to him. Each artisit has their own method to their madness. Good luck!
Great stuff...and great titles! John...love how your photo can be equally interpreted as a girl witch or a homeless boy...and both work well!
Mike...great titles! It's obvious you put thought into them and they describe the work wonderfully. (Peekaboo is my favorite...lol). Although BOB is great too and so is Sneaky. regarding us being twins...we'd have to be triplets as I already have an identical twin...ha! He's a very gifted guitar player.
Princess...I like the Saint theme. Leaves me wanting more. Maybe someone here at Ovation can come up with a name for your nameless nude...lol? That would be a fun contest.
I think titles add an enormous amount of info or intrique to a piece of art. I know some people just number them....but that seems a little impersonal to me. I want my photos to have names. I like the idea of using real "given" names too....in the photo below (I think I ended up titling it "Amish boy"...I originally called it Malachi...simply because he looks like a Malachi...ha. I may change it back to that. I think it's better than Amish Boy.
"Malachi"
I, too, believe that titling my pieces is important. Not that I'll ever be famous, because I'm not trying to be. However, if somewhere down the line, someone decides that any of my work is important, then I want a better title than november1.jpeg. I give a lot of thought to what name I choose, like they're my kids. I like educational titles most of all.
"Saguache" is the Uto-Aztecan word for 'blue earth'
(PS, the bottom of the piece only looks this way on Ovation for some odd reason.)
"Vitus Labrusca" is Latin for the Fox Grape which is used to make concord grape wine.
"Chantico"
In Aztec mythology, Chantico ("she who dwells in the house") was the goddess of fires in the family hearth and volcanoes. She broke a fast by eating paprika with roasted fish, and was turned into a dog by Tonacatecuhtli as punishment because paprika is a banned food in such fast breaking customs. She also wears a crown of poisonous cactus spikes, and takes the form of a red serpent.
Chantico is the goddess of precious things and is very defensive of her possessions. There are many Aztec legends as to what she does to people (or other gods) who take her things. (description from Wikipedia)
"Anthocyanin" is what turns leaves red...
I confess most of my titles are pretty pedestrian but sometimes inspiration strikes.
For example,
for this one the name "Automatic Sprinkler" came like a bolt from the blue. I don't know how I thought of it.
This other one,
I just decided to call "Electrical Brakes." I don't know how I came up with that. I must be a genius, huh?
Edited by ent49, 2 weeks ago
Yes, but the name is usually in place before I start my work. It starts with a concept, and the concept defines the name and work. I write music in the same fashion. I may have a great experience with a good cup of coffee and the coffee spawns the idea, "One Cup at a Time", which then forms the entire framework "chassis" of the song. In my art for instance, my piece "Repressing Andrew Wyeth" was an attempt for me to break free of "classical" motif's and define a unique style of my own. Previous to this piece, Id been doing work in the camp of Wyeth and "realist" painters, but wanted to do something different. So, I wanted to "repress my Wyethian tendencies", hence the name "Repressing Andrew Wyeth". So, the piece was named before I'd designed the actual work. Once the name and concept was identified, ideas for the piece began to assemble in my brain and I was able to realize the entire piece before I built anything. After the mental design process, I undertook building it and it came out pretty much exactly the way I had envisioned it. The exciting thing for me is that the piece always seems to come out BETTER than what I envisioned, because during the building process, new ideas formulate, and devine mistakes are made (the kind that you stand back and say DANG... that's cool!!!). This is how the piece turned out;
Edited by CraigSibley, 2 weeks ago
This piece is called "Force Vector";
The term Force Vector is an engineering term used to describe a type of vector representing a force operating in a defined direction, magnitude and velocity. I’ve always been fascinated by High Speed Schlieren photography as well as ballistics (I’m a gun nut). And these endeavors defined the name for the piece before I started working on it. This piece incorporates motifs from these sciences as well as Einstein’s proposed phenomenon of time dilation (based on velocity) in his Theory of Special Relativity (try googling "twin paradox" sometime… very cool stuff!).
And I'll use one more for example. As a Californian native, I’ve always been painfully aware of seismic activity and have experienced more earthquakes in my lifetime than I’d wish. This piece integrates many motifs and references to Seismic Science… including fault lines, shock waves, epicenter, and even plate tectonics. I knew I wanted to do a piece about Seismic Activity, but didn't want to call it that, so I used a term used to measure earthquakes, the Richter Scale. So I named my piece "Richter 6.8" which is a real "Shaker";
One last thing, when I start building a new piece, I give it a "Code Name". The code name is used until the piece has some kind of recognizable form. I HATE explaining a piece before it is done. So, I named this piece "5 O’Clock" shadow in the early phases of the project so when people asked me what it was, I’d say 5 o’clock shadow, with the simple explanation of I started it at 5 o’clock, and it has shadows on it. Normally, that’s all the explanation needed. If I’d used the real name, most people can’t visualize what I’m saying the piece will be, and it turns into a LONG dissertation trying to explain the whole concept and everything. Far too frustrating and time consuming for me. Once it’s done, I take pride in explaining it, but at that point the piece pretty much speaks for itself. Anyway gang, that's how I do it! The concept comes first, the name comes second and the artwork comes last. All the best my friends, Your budski... Craigo
Sorry Ent... it may have just been "smoke" about Sibleyland
And after looking at my "title" post, I just realized that my posts are ridiculous
At least I spells thinks write!!!
Write Ent?!?
;o)
I name my landscapes
My surrealist
GiGi, your titles are awesome! Very educational! Thought provoking!
Ent, your titles are equally awesome! On the nose and unprententious! Those beautiful photos should be called nothing else! Really!
Craig, your titles are as perfect as the artwork! And mysteriously technical - in a good way! (Although I also like 5 O'CLOCK SHADOW. HA!)
Cheryl, I think you and I approach titles similarly... especially on surreal pieces. "Title searching" can be a fun way to while the painting hours. I do it often. Other times, I (we) go for the perfectly obvious titles. I've noticed that, as my body of work expands, the descriptively obvious titles are best for quick identification in files. I've already sabotaged my archives with a number of iffy titles that I can't remember paired with the images. LOL "Keep It Simple, Stupid!" (The non-politically correct "KISS", from my retail days)...
URBAN KISS is a title that combines obvious description and a little "romance". The modern image is a kiss in the city. URBAN KISS really says what it is. I don't have difficulty finding it in my photo files. Ha!
Edited by MikeStreet, 2 weeks ago
So here it is!
Welcome to Sibleyland everyone!
Land of enchanted animals, lame and sometimes extremly dangerous inventions and vehicles, strange imaginary creatures and very odd odors (sorry... I have a little problem with my colon). Where the lines are as long as Craigo's posts and as laborous as reading them! People of every age will enjoy the special parts of the park such as;
Bovineland! Where giant portions of beef and sausages are available for even the most decerning carnivore! Also, in a keeping with the spirit of Craigo (Founder of Sibleyland) BS can be found laying around every corner!!!
Stay tuned for more of Sibleyland's wonderful attractions in an upcoming blog by none other than Craigo Sibley himself. Oh joy. Aren't you excited?
