Summary of Critique Lecture
WCC Digitizers May 13 2008
Ed Rosch

Quotes:

Art is about paying attention. (Laurie Anderson)

If others can connect with my vision, then my art has succeeded. (Richard Fidler)

Artists paint virtual doorways. Viewers stand in front and choose whether to enter the visual narrative...
(Ken Campbell)

A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.
(Eugene Delacroix)

What is art? Art is man's response, reaction and subsequent by-product of the world around him combined with his inner world. (Gary T. Erbe)

Art must not stop at the level of pleasing eyes. (Li Shan)

A genuine work of art usually displeases at first sight, as it suggests a deficiency in the spectator. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

If you do not understand a man who speaks a language you do not speak, is this therefore proof that
the man babbles only nonsense? -Hans Hoffman

The point is not to deposit your message in the other person's mind, but to somehow activate the
layers of meaning already there- Jay Rosen

You'll never get it, my friend, if you don't take the time- Harvey Keitel's character in Smoke

I'm always amazed how far a little knowledge and common sense can go.......

Becky Hendrick- "Getting It- A Guide To Understanding and Appreciating Art"

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Key Points:

• Critique is the process of developing an understanding of an Art Work
• It is essentially something you do for your own benefit
• It is in the form of a Dialog between you, the Viewer, and the Artist
• It is nonlinear constantly evolving process
• Active participation is necessary for full benefit
• It requires mindful engagement

All Art consists of Form and Content which vary in importance

The fundamental process of Understanding is a cycle between an overview of the Whole
and the perspective of the Parts

The four basic steps in the Critique Process are:

• Describe- really see what's there and how the formal elements come together to form the
  picture
• Analyze- an objective investigation of the elements, interactions, and content of the Artwork
  and the stories it tells
• Evaluate- render your subjective judgment as to the success or failure of the work
• Theorize- place the work into a wider context

These steps can be taken in any order and jumping between them and back again is the normal mode
of progression

The type of shared criticism we normally think of as 'critique' is a product of the critique process not
the process itself.