08. Critique

We will have in-depth critiques, and we will meet often to briefly critique work during class. During these critiques, you will familiarize yourself with the ways of looking, thinking and talking about art. We will examine the formal and conceptual attributes of each student’s work in addition to different approaches to critiquing. The purpose of these critiques is to develop a vocabulary of critique, help each other in expanding our technical and conceptual capabilities, and establish a sense of an in-class artists’ community.

The evaluation for critique is based on your participation (which may consist of small group discussion, large group discussion, written comments, online comments, etc). If you have trouble thinking of what to say during critique, remember the components of an artwork: the subject, form, content and context. If you think about these components, you should be able to think of something to contribute to the conversation.

Any student who misses the final critique (see the class schedule) will automatically lose 2 letter grades off their overall grade for the class. If a student misses any other critique during the semester, their overall grade for the course will drop by one letter grade per missed critique.

Identifying Intentions & Results

Artists have a very specific message for each piece of art. That message is frequently misunderstood/missed. The idea of intentions versus results in its most raw form is essentially what the artist wants to convey and what is actually experienced. The best way to understand the experience of the public’s reaction to your work is to request feedback. Peers and teachers can provide helpful feedback. Descriptive feedback, where a person describes the work as if they are speaking to a blind person, is one approach to understanding how your work reads for the viewer. Interpretive feedback, where a person describes the work’s symbolic and/or metaphorical meanings, is another approach. One of the most interesting parts of art is the fact that it can mean something a little bit different to everyone who enjoys it.