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{D. Salmon's g/l for art classes}
D. Salmon's g/l's
[Mirrored from here]
Quote from the good professor's home page:
"Because in our society, to be obsessed with a
vision about how to make a better automobile
makes you a genius, but to be obsessed with a
vision about the nature of reality makes you a
nut." -- Rodger Kamenetz.
Guidelines for Writing an Art Critique
One of your two required critiques must concern one
of the films being shown on campus this semester. The
other must be about an art show (either on campus [in
the Ruddell Gallery] or off [at an area museum or
gallery space]–an "exhibition" on the Internet is
even fair game). The optional third critique (for
extra credit) can be either a film or art critique.
An art critique is a little different from a film
critique, although some of the language and concerns
will be the same. The length is 3- 4 pages (no fewer
than 3 full pages). Assume you are the art critic for
a major periodical (any of the ones listed in your
syllabus would be fine). The pay is lousy, but you do
get to see some really good art. Write a critique for
your publication using the guidelines below as
starting points. If your critique is particularly
good (in the sense of well-written), we might even
suggest trying to publish it.
One of the best ways to learn the techniques and
style for writing a critique such as this is to read
other critiques. Art critiques and reviews are
regularly published in the journals and periodicals
mentioned in your course syllabus. Additionally, The
New Yorker prints lengthy reviews on occasion. If you
do not have access to such reviews (for whatever
reason), many of the same periodicals have web sites
that often reprint significant reviews and critiques.
This is one set of guidelines. Another is printed on
the reverse. Use or the other. Combine both. Doesn’t
matter.
1) Begin your critique by summarizing what you know
about the artist’s background and biography. Discuss
when and where the artist lived, what influenced him
or her and any important events that occurred.
2) Next choose one or more of the artist’s works to
critique. Identify the title, the medium/ art
material used, and what year the work was created in.
3) In your critique you must at some point describe
the work, analyze the elements and principles within
the work, interpret the work, describe its purpose,
and evaluate the work using aesthetic principles.
4) If a particular aesthetic theory or writer
applies, use it.
The following outline is adapted from Edmund
Feldman’s Varieties of Visual Experience (Prentice
Hall, 1972).
I. Give an introduction about the facts of the
exhibit. Who? What? When? Where?
II. Critique one or more of the works included in the
exhibition using a four-step process.
A. Description
Make objective* or value-neutral* statements about
the work in question. Exclude interpretations and
evaluations, and instead take an objective inventory
of the work. Point out single features such as
objects, trees, and people. Then point out abstract
elements such as shapes and colors. Finally point out
textures, which can lead to a description of
the "characteristics of execution."
*A test of objectivity would be that most people
would agree with your statement.
B. Formal analysis
Make statements about the relations among the things
you named in the descriptions (part A). You should
note similarities in formal elements–such things as
color, shape, or direction. Then note dissimilarities
(contrasts) in those same elements. Take note of
continuities (such as the color red repeated
throughout the work) and of connections (for example,
the shape of a window repeated in the shape of a
table) between these formal elements and the subject
matter. Finally, note the overall qualities of the
work.
C. Interpretation
Make statements about the meaning(s) of the work.
This is the most creative part of your critique.
Using a hypothesis, support it with arguments, based
on evidence given in the description and formal
analysis (parts A and B)
D. Judgment
This is the most complex part of the critique and
requires an opinion regarding the worth of an object,
based on what was learned in the previous stages of
the critique. Are you moved by this work? What do you
think of it? What is your aesthetic judgment? And on
what is based?
III. Draw conclusions–compare and contrast the works.
Notes
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[phrase generator!]
12342 yielded: With regard to the issue of content,
the disjunctive perturbation of the
spatial relationships brings within the realm of
discourse the eloquence of these pieces.