Make-up work : CHAPTER 2, The Crit

The questions of the chapter 1) what do artists learn at school?
2) what is an artist?
3) what makes a good one (artist)?
4)How do you become an artist?

'Par for the course' in the institutional critique and pretentiousness of art schools and people in the art world when they can't or feel insulted to answer the question: what is an artist? Thornton brings to a public forum this part of the art school/world experience that I care for the least! It's okay to not know how to define it,- as it seems nearly impossible to clearly define at all.

An important theme in the strength of the crit for artists
: demystifying the artist.
: a deep inquiry so as to expose a dialectic.
: a strategy for the production of knowledge.


What some artists/students/teachers think creativity is
: a dirty word/ lovey dovey cliche used by people not involved professionally with the art world.
: a very personal process that can't be taught.

“Perhaps creativity is not on the agenda at art school because being creative is tacitly considered the unteachable core of being an artist.” huh???


I relate to the notion that a group crit is bullshit, like Dave Hickey remarks. The idea that peopple are all gathering around to weigh and figure out the artist's intentions -- it never made sense to me. His remark is that He doesn't care about intentions, but rather the work looks like it might have some consequences. I dont need a work to possibly engage a response of sonsequence, but intentions are all interpretation.

Conceptualism coming after abstract expressionism -- as a response to that aesthetic. There is too much emphasis on the thought and intelligence of artwork in the environment at CalArts.
(This school would be a bad match for me.) WAY TOO long of time spent on bullshitting about one's intentions. Feels really like talking your art and yourself stupid. And the fact that students can doze off for 45 minutes or an hour and get back up to be involved again is proof of the ridiculousness of it all.

The one positive thing I can take from this chapter is the marathon critiques? the students want it. They value it, and that school turns out some interesting artists. So it must be contributing to an integral aspect of art -- what we think about it. I just couldn't see myself ever taking a whole 12 hour day for a critique!