To Carve or to Scratch: Writing As Folk Art




A thesis should contain one simple question and this is mine; can the act of writing to be closer to sculpting then any other art?

The Germanic root of the word write meant to scratch. This evolved from the Indo-European words that meant to carve.

I define the act of writing to be derived from the art of sculpture. Please allow me this jump between methods of expression, it is required to bring your mind into the proper state to absorb the associations offered here.

The definition of Folk Art is largely disputed. In order to clear up any future dispute I will offer the definition I am using for Folk Art.

Folk Art is the product of a person without classical training, a product that shows evidence of the person's culture. In other words, Folk Art is an artistic expression by a self-taught creator.

I will try to limit any ornamental camouflage when discussing these themes.

I would like to point out that untrained individuals do the majority of writing. I am pointing to anyone that writes that does not have at least an MFA in English. Those professionals that have achieved this level of training in writing are closer to sculptors, not Folk Artists. I will help clear up this distinction later.

I will reference the work of two teachers, Bill Zinsser and Cicero. I picked these two as opposing poles for the world I am inventing.

It is important to remember my intent, when drawing correlations between these two I am referencing the work of their students and not the teachers themselves. Through paraphrasing these pillars of the writing world I hope to bring a little of their life into my theories.

I am writing this paper purely for my own amusement and not as a challenge to the field of skilled writers. If I were to do this than the piece would be void of life, D.O.A.

My stance is made clear through my use of the first person tense, it is no accident.

The position I am taking here is new and many will find it dubious. I invite your criticism.

If you find any interest in it at all it will be of your own doing.

You see, by making my stance clear, I lend any opponents to my ideas no advantage when forming their rebuttal.

Folk Art has always been; its discovery was not at the hands of those studying culture but by fellow artists.

Its re-discovery at the hands of those scholars has caused the definition to evolve from work produced from a functional standpoint to work of pure artistry.

I would like to quote the accomplished Folk Artist Edgar Tolson, whose work The Fall of Man can be viewed as part of the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection. I am using the words of Tolson for two reasons; the first is to clarify the mental process that is used in creating Folk Art sculpture as well as having this explained in the language of the common man.


'When you're carving something you've got your mind with it. You have your whole being in it. You have to. But just sitting there whittling on a stick, you ain't got nothin' in it but just a little time.'�

-Edgar Tolson

When you are carving something you have to put your whole mind into the process. If writing is like carving, would not the same apply? Similarly, what is worse than bad writing? Couldn't bad writing be categorized as the 'whittling on a stick'? With no form or structure intended no writing can survive long.

'A man who makes those things. If you could open up his skull to see his brain, you see the sculpture there ' perfect as it's made'� You don't make it with your hands. You form it with your hands. You make it with your mind.'�

-Edgar Tolson

The contrast between sculpting and writing is strengthened here. When constructing a piece of good writing you have to think about it quite a bit before hand. You need the work held in your mind as perfect as possible before forming that work with your hands with the typewriter or pen.

We can also use categories of Folk Art and apply them to writing as well. These include utilitarian, entertainment, descriptive, religious, and historical.

A fifth can also be added, that of the political. It has been said that all writing is political in nature so this could encompass the other four in some ways.

Let us discuss the nature of utilitarian writing since that is the type most commonly used. To write with utility is to write without deliberately applying stylization. The best way to achieve this is to maintain brevity in your prose. This can be expressed as such:

B = Ic/C : B = Brevity, Ic = Implied Content, C = Content


What this ratio is saying is that the best way to integrate brevity into your writing is to imply meaning without coming right out and saying it.

To quote Cicero directly;

'Brevity is secured when no word is used unless necessary.'�

Returning to my comparison of Folk Art Sculpture, if you have for instance the statue of Post Boy; also available for view at MAM; one of the standard characteristics of this piece is how it has withstood the test of time. If what you build with your prose is sturdy, then take satisfaction in its strength alone. Decoration is not needed for it to be art.

This point is the area in which Zinsser and Cicero diverge, and the student of these two will part ways. Up until now, everything that has been said by the two masters has been parallel with the other. It is Cicero that takes these theories further.

Cicero states that if the topic of your work is to shine then it should be layered with ornamentation in order to lend it dignity, weight, and grandeur.

It is at this crossroads that I feel that Cicero becomes the classically trained sculptor while Zinsser remains the Folk Artist. Take for example Michelangelo's Pieta, in essence a sculpture that shows a woman holding a dead man in her arms. The skill used in bringing forth the details and the number of details in this work is however, unmatched. This is not a work that would be done by a Folk Artist for this close attention to ornamentation would not occur to the Folk Artist for the lack of classical training would largely prohibit it. Another example could be the extreme use of ornamentation in Baroque and Gothic architecture. While the item that is being portrayed is as common as milk in your fridge; a church or other important building; the level of stylization applied is dizzying.

It is important in writing to avoid this path if you want your work to be appreciated by everyone. Write about what interests you but write in such a way that it is accessible.

Write with the fluency of the poet William Carlos Williams whose works never contain much more than a dozen lines but what is said in those lines, or rather what is implied, speaks to the reader.

How you use words are up to you. Writing is your sheet of scrap aluminum or tin, it is your welder and grinding wheel, create with these tools and medium something that you appreciate.

Create works that cause the reader to question their own beliefs. Structure arguments that are difficult to pick apart. Make every square inch of it required for the entire piece to maintain integrity.

In conclusion, lets recap what has been discussed here, for in that way we can refresh our memories and regroup our thoughts on the discussion.

I began by inferring that students of good writing should maintain the values of a Folk Artist when applying their craft. The primary attribute being utility, saying things without saying them, structuring work that supports itself and does not hold up useless decorations. Use common language and colloquial terms to aid the passage of your ideas down the River Styx of the reading public. If your ideas fall from a boat built with more attention paid to the gilding than to the construction of the hull, they will be forever lost in the murky waters, stolen forever from the memory of the reader.

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