Chapter 2: "The Crit"

♥ I wasn’t aware that teaching was seen as an impediment to artists as is stated on page 46 of the book. Thornton mentions that, “significantly, in L.A., teaching does not stigmatize an artist’s career in the way it does elsewhere.” Teaching is something that I am considering doing in the future, but I never knew that it was seen as a drawback to artists in some places and I am not sure why since it seems to give a n artist the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of certain artistic procedures as well as the ability to pass them onto others.

♥ I thought it was interested that some people reacted so strongly to Thornton’s question of “what is an artist?” she said in a way it felt taboo to ask. I think it is so specific to a person that it makes it almost impossible to answer. I feel that being an artist is whatever a person makes it. The fact that it is indefinable makes it what it is because if there were certain rules and regulations to being an artist, many people would be omitted from that list. But since it is so open of a category it makes it ever changing and therefore almost impossible to describe. With every characterization of an “artist” there is also an artist who fails to fit that label. I like the response in the reading where a woman says “I mean, for me, and artist is someone who makes art.” I think that is the best way to describe it. I also think that it’s hard to define what an artist is simply because it’s almost impossible to define what art is. I think Leslie Dick’s explanation is credible as well.

♥ Baldessari believes that the most important function of art education is to demystify the artist: “Students need to see that art is made by human beings just like them.”

♥ In response to the artists who feel that it is unnecessary to have critics, I would disagree. I do understand what they are saying, but I also feel that it can be extremely rewarding to get feedback on one’s work. As Mary Kelly suggests, I think it is also important for the audience to be able to read a work of art on their own. As Alex Bagg joked in her video the artist is not always going to be standing in a gallery beside their work waiting to answer any questions that a viewer may have. So I guess it’s important on the artist’s part to make a work of art that can be grasped by the viewer, and it is also up to the viewer to take enough time to analyze the work so that they can receive as much from the work as is possible. But I think that if the viewer reads into the work in a way that the artist did not intend then that’s okay too. I think the work should be allowed to transcend the artist’s intentions as well. Sometimes it’s nice to not know too much about the work ahead of time.

♥ “Finally, art students need to understand their motivations deeply, because in grad school it’s imperative to discover which parts of their practice are expendable. As Jones explains, “You have to find something that is true to yourself as a person—some non-negotiable core that will get you through a forty-year artistic practice’.”

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