Artistic Criticism

What is "Art"?

If I say, "Artist!" to someone, they might think of your average Frenchman with a crooked beret with a paint brush and pallet stroking water lilies on a canvas.  Other's might think of their Asian friend who can make armies of dragons from a piece of charcoal.  And then there are others still who think of the quirky kid they refuse to understand who can create anything with a pen and paper.

I, on the other hand, think of band geeks.

So what is "art"?  That's a tough question, so I decided to ask my good friend Wikipedia (who has become much more reliable from four years ago), and he told me that art was a very diverse range of human activities.  Not only activities, but also the products of these activities.

• Painting
• Sculpture
• Printing and Printmaking
• Photography
• Architecture
• Music
• Theater
• Film
• Dance
• Literature

These are just the umbrella terms for what "art" can describe!  If I were any more specific (and I'm not being specific at all), then the list could be limitless!  But I did not start writing this thing to talk about art.  I came here to talk about artistic criticism.

I think professional criticism is a crime against humanity.

Here's why: let's say that you are a visual artist.  You have just created a masterpiece in an awesome display of creativity and self-expression (which is why art is so wonderful, in my opinion).  Your friends love your artwork; this piece is no exception.  You yourself are feeling pretty good about this one as well.

Enter Mister Critic: not a constructive critic, mind you, but a professional or certified critic; someone who is paid to make value judgments on other people's work based on their own subjective opinion.

...WHAT?!

This critic gets money to either praise or degrade your work.  He's paid to tell you what you did well, or how you could have been better, or how terrible you are as an artist.  Due to the self-expressionism associated with art, it is almost impossible for the artist to not take such criticism personally.  As a result, the critic isn't merely judging the artwork; they are judging the artist.  Not only that, but what they say can either expedite or curtail your progress in the artistic community, depending on their influence!  What is that if not blatant robbery?

Do not judge, so that you will not be judged; for in the same way you judge others, you will also be judged.

I am a musician.  I compose scores, write tracks, string together lyrics, and then perform and showcase all my hard work myself.  I never pay attention to critics who try to correct what I am doing, because they are totally ignorant of the sound or the message I am attempting to get across.  Such ignorance, I find, is wholly disgusting and putrid, and should be disregarded unless, of course, you specifically asked for critique.

I have no problem with artists (or anyone, for that matter) asking for constructive criticism.  I personally do not ask for it myself.  My issue lies with the professional critics who receive income for spouting their unwarranted opinions.  I don't want to hear what they have to say, because judgments are selfish by nature.  When a journalist provides an editorial, it is biased towards his views, his opinions, and his wants.  This is simply human nature.  Critics are the same way.  They judge artists based on their tastes, their interpretation of the art, and their own personal bias.  This kind of bias is unavoidable, as it permeates your default line of thought.  How you interpret facts influences every decision you make, and bias influences how you interpret facts.

Now, maybe you enjoy a healthy dose of criticism.  Perhaps you do not.  Either way, I would like to empart to you my two cents:

You are your toughest critic.

Don't try to impress anyone.  Anyone.

Why not?  Because no one can be as hard on yourself as you can.  No one can judge you more harshly than you can judge yourself.  This is because you, as a self-aware individual, can readily see the things that you don't like about yourself almost on demand.  If this is true (and I have no reason to doubt myself), then if you are able to impress yourself, others will be impressed as well.  If you're trying only to make something, as an artist, that you will be happy with, then you will have reached the pinnacle of self-expression, which I believe is paramount in the world of art.

I have been told by my friends and family that I am an accomplished composer.  This is a positive critique.  I have also been told that my drumming style (for I am a drummer) is sloppy and basic.  This is a negative critique.  I equally disregard both of these criticisms, because neither of them are objectively true.  Since neither of them are objectively true, then they have no bearing on reality, and therefore I would be wise to disregard them when it comes to self-analyzation and personal growth.  I think I am an accomplished composer for my age, and I also think I am an accomplished drummer for the short amount of time that I have been playing.

Critics are flawed because they are completely incapable of making educated judgments on your works, because they cannot understand the context of the work, how it was created, and the inspiration and/or story behind its conception.  A critic can only give you their opinion: an uneducated and narrow opinion.  That, to me, is not something I should take into consideration.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but everyone has a responsibility to have an educated opinion.  This rules out critics.  Critics have my permission to silence themselves in my presence.