glossary

the working vocabulary of contemporary art, defined plainly. every term has a permanent link, so a definition can be pointed at rather than paraphrased.

open call: A public invitation to submit work, usually with a deadline, eligibility rules and a named selector. It is a one-off opportunity: you apply, a decision is made, and the call closes. Unlike a residency it does not normally include time, space or money to make new work.
residency: A period of hosted time to make work, typically with studio space and sometimes accommodation, a stipend or materials. The output is usually the practice itself rather than a finished exhibition. Applications often ask for a project proposal alongside a portfolio.
prize: An award given for work that already exists, decided by a jury. Unlike an open call it is not a route to being shown; unlike a residency it does not fund the making. Some prizes include an exhibition, which is why the three are often confused.
art fair: A time-limited commercial event where galleries — not usually artists directly — take booths to show and sell work. Artists are generally present through their gallery, so a fair is rarely something an individual applies to.
medium: The material and method a work is made from: oil on canvas, silver gelatin print, sound, video, cast bronze. It is the most specific fact on an artwork label and is what most people are actually searching for when they say "type of art".
mixed media: A work made from more than one material, where no single one is the point. It is a real description, not a shrug — but it is the least searchable thing you can write, so listing the actual materials alongside it ("mixed media: paper, wax, copper wire") serves a reader far better.
edition: The number of copies of a work that will ever exist, written as a fraction: 3/25 is the third of twenty-five. Photographs, prints, casts and video works are commonly editioned. An unnumbered unique work is not an edition, and saying so is clearer than leaving the field blank.
artist book: A book made as an artwork rather than about one — the book itself is the piece, not a catalogue of something else. It may be a single object or a small edition, and it is catalogued as a work with dimensions and an edition like any other.
provenance: The recorded history of a work: who made it, when, where it has been shown, who has held it. Provenance is what makes an archive different from a gallery of images, and it is the part that becomes harder to reconstruct the longer it goes unrecorded.
visual description: A written account of what an image shows, written for someone who cannot see it. It is not a caption or a title: a caption gives context, a visual description gives the picture. It is what a screen reader announces, and it is also what makes an image findable in words at all.

glossary

the working vocabulary of contemporary art, defined plainly. every term has a permanent link, so a definition can be pointed at rather than paraphrased.

open call

A public invitation to submit work, usually with a deadline, eligibility rules and a named selector. It is a one-off opportunity: you apply, a decision is made, and the call closes. Unlike a residency it does not normally include time, space or money to make new work.

residency

A period of hosted time to make work, typically with studio space and sometimes accommodation, a stipend or materials. The output is usually the practice itself rather than a finished exhibition. Applications often ask for a project proposal alongside a portfolio.

prize

An award given for work that already exists, decided by a jury. Unlike an open call it is not a route to being shown; unlike a residency it does not fund the making. Some prizes include an exhibition, which is why the three are often confused.

art fair

A time-limited commercial event where galleries — not usually artists directly — take booths to show and sell work. Artists are generally present through their gallery, so a fair is rarely something an individual applies to.

medium

The material and method a work is made from: oil on canvas, silver gelatin print, sound, video, cast bronze. It is the most specific fact on an artwork label and is what most people are actually searching for when they say "type of art".

mixed media

A work made from more than one material, where no single one is the point. It is a real description, not a shrug — but it is the least searchable thing you can write, so listing the actual materials alongside it ("mixed media: paper, wax, copper wire") serves a reader far better.

edition

The number of copies of a work that will ever exist, written as a fraction: 3/25 is the third of twenty-five. Photographs, prints, casts and video works are commonly editioned. An unnumbered unique work is not an edition, and saying so is clearer than leaving the field blank.

artist book

A book made as an artwork rather than about one — the book itself is the piece, not a catalogue of something else. It may be a single object or a small edition, and it is catalogued as a work with dimensions and an edition like any other.

provenance

The recorded history of a work: who made it, when, where it has been shown, who has held it. Provenance is what makes an archive different from a gallery of images, and it is the part that becomes harder to reconstruct the longer it goes unrecorded.

visual description

A written account of what an image shows, written for someone who cannot see it. It is not a caption or a title: a caption gives context, a visual description gives the picture. It is what a screen reader announces, and it is also what makes an image findable in words at all.