the wall label

Most of us read the label before we look at the work. It’s a small habit, and it’s a powerful one: a few lines of text on the wall tell us who made the thing, when, and out of what, and somewhere in that short list we quietly decide what kind of looking is expected of us.

For students the label can be a map or a fence. A good one points at something worth noticing and then steps aside. A poor one answers every question before it’s asked, so that the picture becomes an illustration of the sentence, and the sentence becomes the lesson.

Try covering the label on purpose. Let a class look for two minutes with nothing but their eyes, and ask them to say what they see in plain words: “a dark corner,” “a hand that looks too big.” Then uncover the label and watch what changes. Some students will say the label proved them right; others will say it made them stop looking.

The label is also a piece of writing, and students can write one. Choose a drawing from the room, ask for the maker, the work and the medium, and then ask for the hardest part: one or two sentences that help a stranger look without telling them what to think. It’s a surprisingly honest exercise in how much a few words can carry.