Seven Days- The Crit

I know this is late. This is my first of my second late blogs but thanks for the extension.

The Crit. After listening to the dialogue my peers offered on this chapter, and then taking a look at the chapter, I can only really relate my views to some of the quotes given in this chapter. Whoa. So, here I am at the critique, the pivotal points in every budding artists work. It's almost more important then the piece itself, but then again you would need to create the piece before you can even receive feedback. BUT then again you can receive feedback on a concept alone.

Like the narrator of the book, during critiques, I try to remain on the outside and listen to what everyone else has to say before I give my input. My input is what separates myself from the narrator though, as he does not get involved, but simply continues on with his social experiment. I don't know why the narrator didn't get involved though. In a critique that long I would have started babbling, but that would only extend the length of the crit, so fuck it. I don't blame him.

I personally enjoyed how the crits were broken down into subdivisions of where the instructor talks, the instructor doesn't talk and the artist doesn't talk. I suppose much of the faculty here implements these types of ways in their own teaching, but each are beneficial to the crit. I can say that I have partaken in all three, BUT things like that end up with everyone talking. Especially the one where the artist doesn't talk. Sometimes we feel a need to try to defend ourselves especially when we our time and work is getting bashed. I've heard stories of people crying or being down in the slumps because of crits.

One quote I liked specifically was this one:

"Creative is definitely a dirty word...it's almost as embarrassing as beautiful or sublime or masterpiece."

I remember a crit I had, and the instructor asked the artist why he painted the certain subjects he painted and he simply responded with "I wanted to paint something beautiful". In my four years of art school, hell even in college, I have never heard someone say something so bold about their work. As individuals, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No matter how hard we try to put meaning in the work we do, I believe it comes down to how much we like it. During a crit, whether or not people like your work, it all comes down to how you see it.

Creative, beautiful or masterpiece does not stop the growth process of an artist though. I think these words are valid in a critique.