“Critique of the Critic”
Due: July 13
1-2 printed pages, plus a copy of the original review/essay you used to complete the assignment.
The project “Critique of the Critic” will be due next class (July 13th). You are to identify one (1) essay or one (1) review of a body of work/exhibition and write a response addressing the stylistic, as well as critical, approach of the author . Be clear to explain what was successful and what was less-than-successful.
Please select an essay/review of work that you have an interest in or that complements the work you are interested in producing. As image-makers, we dedicate a majority of our time to the review and analysis of the visual arts. The more work we look at other people's work critically, the more critical we become of our own work. As the consumption of imagery and artwork dictates the product we manufacture, and all influences are interconnected, this analytical approach subsequently influences what we produce. The same holds true with writing and comprehension. The more perspectives we are exposed to, the greater our arsenal of meaning becomes as we rationalize, present, articulate our views and ultimately market our own work (be it fundamental to commercial clients or congenital to a fine art endeavor – the art of communication is paramount).
Though this assignment is not discipline - centric, I do prefer that you select work that remains within the visual arts. If you feel that a critical review of literature, sonic art, or theater best complements the work you produce, please pursue those ventures, but please notify me in advance.
Nota bene: This is a critical review you are selecting vs. a mere statement of facts/summary . Consider aspects of the text we have discussed in class as well as the discussions at the galleries to further support your analytic perspective.
Some starting points:
Art in America:
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com
October:
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/octo/-/136
ArtForum:
http://artforum.com/
Art Journal:
http://artjournal.collegeart.org/
NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/design/index.html
ICA Boston:
http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/onview/
PS1:
http://ps1.org/exhibitions/
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Casey Taillacq
ReplyDeleteJuly 13, 2011
PH203 Theory and Critique
Critique of the Critic
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/naomi-leshem/
For my Critique of the Critic I went onto the Art in America Magazine’s website, and chose an article about Naomi Leshem’s work where Jean Dykstra was the critique. Before reading and researching this article, I was not privy to the work of Naomi or Jean, but when looking through to find an article I was drawn in by Naomi’s images and wanted to pursue the work and the critique of the work.
I found it interesting that Jean was critiquing an Israeli photographer’s work because Jean’s ideas and opinions are based on a Western ideology because that is where Jean was from. As I was reading the critique I kept in mind that the photographer came from a different cultural background than the critiquer, and that really got me thinking about the cultural differences between the two and how that could greatly effect the way the Jean spoke about Naomi’s work. Obviously I am accustomed to Jean’s Western principles, so therefore even myself as a critic of the critiquer still am not able to relate my ideologies to the Naomi’s.
I like the way Jean was able to create a metaphor relating the subjects in the photographs of Naomi’s series “Sleepers” to the conceptual ideas in the photograph. What I mean by this was Jean talks about these images as a representation of both the teenagers in the photographs and the complexities that come along with being a teenager, and she relates that to the action they are doing in the photographs, which is sleeping. I feel like she could of gone into a little bit more detail, I am not sure about what but I think her adding more to the ideas relating teenage years to sleeping could be a really interesting discussion topic. I like the idea of it, but I felt like she could of gone into a little bit more depth about the two and her ideas.
Going back to the idea of different ideologies, and how the photographer’s are very different than the critiquer’s as well as my own, it really made me think about what we know and experience and how different it can be when I continued reading and Jean started discussing a second series of Naomi’s titled, “Runways.” Jean mentions how these photographs were of young women who were all starting their “mandatory military service, standing on airstrips in Israel.” This made me think about how each of our cultures have different military structures, and how in most cases if one were to join the military in the US, it is mainly not mandatory service, but instead it is mainly a voluntarily service. This immediately made me think of how because of our different cultures and views how Jean’s description could possibly be very biased to Western beliefs, no not intentionally, but subconsciously our tactics and structures could be vastly different than those being represented in the photographs, and how Naomi, as a photographer from the culture being photographed, is not from a total outsider’s perspective like Jean and myself.
I find it interesting that Jean chose to compare the two pieces of work in the same critique, and I kind of feel like I would like to know a little bit more about each one separately inside of them as a whole. And I am not sure I really agree with her placing more value on one piece opposed to the other, maybe not value per say, but more emphasis by saying that one is more compelling than the other because in turn the two series are both compelling, but entirely in their own ways.