At NCECA I attended a panel about the value of criticism. Several interesting things were said, but the one I want to focus on now is the idea that the art critic knows more about your work than you do. It was said that many artists think that critics feel that way.
The Critic on the panel responded that in some ways this can be true. The artist may have been moved or influenced by artistic movements, or social aspects that they weren't fully aware of, and that the trained critic may see connections to things that the artist didn't realize were included in the work. He also offered the disclaimer that the critic doesn't know art better than anyone else, but he does know his own understanding of art better than others know theirs.
As an artist I was unsure how to take this. I made the art. Could someone else understand it better than I? But then I thought about the growing pains I have gone through, and continue to go through, in understanding my work. Asking myself why I made something the way I did, and not being able to answer except to say - I liked it. Moving from making intuitively to making conscientiously is a step that many artists seem to struggle with, so is the notion that someone else may understand the intuition of the artist better than the artist so crazy? Thoughts?
I think it comes down to when we create something that is "our own" we are so close to it...it has become so "precious," that we can lose sight of what we wanted it to be.....so when someone looks at what we've done and we talk about it they sometimes don't see what we were trying to convey. I'm starting to see that in my paintings....the last few weeks I have been taking a "break" from each painting...letting it "rest." And then I come back to it with a focused conversation and make decisions and changes from there.....
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have attended the pannel. It's sounds interesting. I think critics are trained, or just good at noticing, then articulating what they read .. .not understanding your art better, or know more about it. much like my comment to your post. without a response from you i can't know truly what is being comunicated here, so you, the critic, become the authority on what is being heard. . so in a sence you know best about what I'm SAYING, but not about what I'm TRYING to say
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