Critique is...

With all due respect, may I humbly remind people that the word critique is a term from the world of arts referring to a very specific methodology and purpose? Could kindly someone here with an arts education background step forward and enlighten us all?

With all due respect, may I humbly remind people that the word critique is a term from the world of arts referring to a very specific methodology and purpose? Could kindly someone here with an arts education background step forward and enlighten us all?

 

WTF! If it requires a degree, it doesn't belong here.

In a family full of artists, I was the one critic. With all due respect, if you want to make a point of something, then YOU enlighten us.

 

What do you object to in what has been done so far?

 

"8 Types of Bad Creative Critics" cartoon | Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall seeing anyone who posted an image here complain about the feedback they received. Plus, in the intro post it was made clear that posters can ask for very specific responses by using up to 10 responses of their choosing. Surely this forum isn't a solicitation for publishable critiques, it's a place for people to get useful feedback on their images. If anyone wants a professional critique they can always hire a freelance art critic.

It wasn’t my intention to offend anyone with my post. Apologies if I inadvertently did so. All I meant was to recall that critique in the arts attempts to establish objectivity in discussing a photograph, for instance, and avoid mere like’s and not-like’s. And… I cannot enlighten you, I am not qualified for that.

It wasn’t my intention to offend anyone with my post. Apologies if I inadvertently did so. All I meant was to recall that critique in the arts attempts to establish objectivity in discussing a photograph, for instance, and avoid mere like’s and not-like’s. And… I cannot enlighten you, I am not qualified for that.

 

Thank you for clarifying. I suspect I would not have seen your post as accusatory if we were chatting in person, because your tone and demeanor would have conveyed your intent more accurately. The words by themselves were, obviously, taken as critical by several of us. I'm happy to consider it just an example of the hazards of non-verbal communication.

 

Cheers!

 

Dan

 

P.S. Here is something from a colleague of mine on the definitions of different kinds of art criticism as well as formal analysis. I'm not an expert, but she is and I trust her to give a good introduction.

 

ART CRITICISM AND FORMAL ANALYSIS OUTLINE

..

 

P.S. Here is something from a colleague of mine on the definitions of different kinds of art criticism as well as formal analysis. I'm not an expert, but she is and I trust her to give a good introduction.

 

ART CRITICISM AND FORMAL ANALYSIS OUTLINE

 

Great link. I think we're being consistent with that.

I think what the OP means is that criticism as in ‘art criticism’ starts from the assumption that the work critiqued is how the artist intended to present it. It doesn’t assume that the creator is looking for advice on how to “improve” the work. This is different than asking for feedback (crop this, put a little bit more contrast to that, etc.).

 

Right, good point. Given the content of the intro post to this forum it seemed obvious to me that the purpose was the latter, as I wrote "Surely this forum isn't a solicitation for publishable critiques, it's a place for people to get useful feedback on their images." Of course, it's also clear that people who post images here can ask for whichever type of feedback they want, so I don't see a need to rigidly define it up front. If someone wants art criticism they can simply ask.

The intent of the Seeking Criticism Forum was to provide a convenient place to post images and facilitate OP customization / direction of critique to areas of interest and perceived need, or to leave boundaries for criticism wide open. Simply pictures and feedback.

This thread doesn't really belong here, IMO, but in Casual Conversation.

I think the OP is somewhat vague. Apostolos, were you looking for guidance regarding what constitutes art criticism in general? Or, did you want to limit discussion to photo critiques?