The idea of public criticism as “talking shit” rather than a collaborative venture permeates the arts, and it’s ultimately counterproductive.
Criticism
Posted inBooks
When Writing Criticism Feels Like Pouring Time Down the Sink
Reflecting on her own reactions to Chantal Akerman’s namesake film, Christine Smallwood muses on the personal baggage we inevitably bring to the art we consume.
Posted inNews
Greg Tate, Giant Among Cultural Critics, Dies at 64
His writing spilled over with a creative spirit that made art out of art, sourced from his investigations into music, literature, film and theory, peering into the serpentine realities of Black art and Black life.
Posted inArt
What Is a Documentary These Days?
As the landscape for cultural production shifts, it’s worth asking what does or does not constitute a documentary now. Here are some thoughts.
Posted inFilm
Exploring a Film Critic’s Tastes Through the Movies She Loved — and Hated
On the centennial of Pauline Kael’s birth, the Quad Cinema is presenting Losing It at the Movies, a retrospective including both films that received her highest praise and those she viciously tore apart.
Posted inOpinion
Rereading Ada Louise Huxtable: 5 Essential Pieces
In honor of her death earlier this week, here are five significant reviews and essays by pioneering architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable.
Posted inArt
Mirror, Mirror
What do we see when we look at art? What do we want to see? Answers come readily and are various: we seek beauty; enlightenment; pleasure; escape from ourselves; insight into those same selves.
Posted inArt
How to Be a Freelance Art Writer
Being a freelance art writer in New York is as outwardly glamorous as it has ever been; that is, not glamorous at all. Sure, I have the freedom to wake up at 10:00 am everyday and traipse around Brooklyn armed with a carton of 27’s, my laptop, and $8 for four cups of coffee and several bananas. A the same time, I also have the freedom to make very little money. Here are some lessons learned while writing about art.
Posted inBooks
Reading Jerry Saltz’ Seeing Out Louder
Though the art world seems to have recovered from crisis mode with the enthusiastic approach to (and beginning) of Art Basel Miami Beach 2010, the remnants of our previous recession-driven apocalypse are still close at hand. Auction successes are blazing beacons of money, but seem shaky and could prove to be singular. Museum administrations have become dangerously insular, commercially driven and intermixed with business and political influences. In comes Jerry Saltz’ Cassandra paean Seeing Out Louder, a collection of the critic’s writing from 2003 to 2009.
Posted inOpinion
Alec Soth Says Art Books Don’t Get Reviewed
Despite the 2010 New York Art Book Fair getting quite a fair amount of press attention, photographer and fair participant Alec Soth feels that it wasn’t exactly the right kind. His criticism lies not with the fair itself nor with its PR, rather, his opinion that critics don’t often go out of their way to review art books in detail. A post on his nascent publishing outfit, Little Brown Mushroom’s, blog has the details.