On Critics – Professional and Others

Exposing oneself to criticism is an indispensable part of being an artist. That includes criticism of the works of other artists. It opens you to new perspectives towards familiar pieces of art, which in turn assists in your own edification as an artist.

However, I have always preferred to read critiques by other artists who are working in the field, instead of professional critics, who may not have had ample experience working on the battlegrounds, creating art that captures the attention of the community. I realize that for many of us, that sounds counter intuitive. Criticisms from practicing artists are rare to come by and you cannot depend on them to critique the works you want critiqued as an audience. Professional critics are, on the other hand, expected to have a public opinion. In fact, their credibility as a critic is dependent on their repertoire of criticism. With these facts in view, allow me to justify my stance.

Critics, especially those who have not produced artwork of renown on their own, often have no idea regarding the constraints that artists work with while producing their works of art. Working as an artist, despite the romanticism associated with it, is still a profession and like any other profession, comes with its own set of constraints. Filmmakers struggle with budgetary constraints, unexpected weather on the day of the shooting, actor’s schedules and a million other unforeseen circumstances that they must integrate in their creative process. The same is valid for all artists. Musicians, sculptors, painters, writers, all continue to create art despite constraints. Critics sitting in front of a typewriter are often protected from the realities of producing art and thus it is far easier for them to assign what appears to be an objective measure of value to a piece of art. However, without making allowances for the constraints in the creative process, the criticisms can never present a true measure of art.

There is also the added complication of something all critics of renown recognize; negative criticism is fun to read and write. We as a society derive a perverted pleasure from watching others flop around and flail. Without going into assigning blame to those who never venture to create something, it does incentivize critics to arm their pens with barbs, often writing criticism a tad too harsh than was warranted. Now, for the masters of the craft, it hardly matters. As long as the patrons have enjoyed what has been created, the criticisms are mere embellishments, one among the many opinions that surround the work. However, such safety of numbers is not afforded to new artists, those who depend on the critics to cheer for their work, encouraging others to discover their work.

The reason I prefer criticism coming from artists, is because not only are they aware of the several constraints an artist in their field faces, but they are also not expected to have an opinion. When your next paycheck comes from having an opinion on everything, it is easier to slam something than to prop it up. In a society where pessimism abounds, it is much easier to look at everything with a sneer and unfairly compare it to the greatest works of the greatest masters, whose entire body of work may not be up to the standards they have set themselves with their magnum opus. Masters of the form of critique have pled guilty to the crime. Roger Ebert had often revised his ratings of movies to reflect the wide spread love movies have received, the same movies he had dismissed with a myriad of unflattering comments. Picasso, Van Gogh, Bach, many of the greatest artists of our day and age had fallen to the sharp attacks of the critics of their day. And they are the ones we know of. Who knows how many promising and potential masters were silenced by the critics who were too quick to declare them inconsequential.

I do not have anything against professional critics. They are often more helpful than not. However, in our world where our senses are always under strain with the barrage of information coming at them, it may be prudent to make up our own minds regarding artists whose works intrigue you instead of letting someone else dictate your thoughts to you. You may end up doing a service not only to the artist but quite possibly, to the human race too, by introducing them to one of their treasures.