Blog #5: "Writing With"

This week's writing style differed from the criticisms we've seen in this course thus far. With quick sentences and unformed thoughts, we got invited into what a critic's mind would look like in a more spontaneous and unfinished way when grappling with a work of art. Instead of coming to a piece of writing with fully formed opinions and decisions on a work, they wrote their questions and thought processes of how they engage with a work of art. When writing about Mitchell Joan's painting, Lydia Davis states, "Later I could try to figure it out: there had to be visual clues in the picture. Were all, or only some, of the elements in it clues? If the lighter, scattered, or broke ares of blue referred to cornflowers, what did the blocks of darker blue refer to, and the opulent white? Or were all the elements clues but some of them to private, unknowable subjects? Was this a representation of an emotional response to cornflowers, or to a memory of cornflowers?"

All these questions remove the idea of an art critic being some kind of authoritative judge, all knowing about a work of art. Instead, it brings the critic onto the same plane as any other viewer working through and attempting to "figure out" what a piece is doing. This relates to how Owen Craig discussed his writing process in an interview: "I have tried, at least in the recent work, to position my voice so it doesn’t sound like a third-person historical voice of authority." There is an emphasis on talking "to" an artwork instead of "about it."

The personal aspect of the critic is also apparent; instead of detailing what a work looks like, I saw an emphasis on their own experience of visiting the work, details, and context of their environment. I got no sense of whether a work was “successful” or not, making them seem more of an ally to the artists as opposed to criticizing it. In my own writing style, I hope to also work through a given piece and ask thoughtful questions like these critics did. Acting as an ally to both artists and audience members can be helpful, but I also think one shouldn't shy away from sharing how an artwork really made them feel, whether good or bad. I'd want to give my readers a better sense of what the artwork looked like since I found it difficult to visualize some pieces and if it's something that resonates with me or not.