Questions of Judgement

About

Through seminars with critics, gallery visits, and writing exercises, this course considers the forces changing the field of art criticism: increasingly diverse perspectives, a speculative art market, and a turbo-charged attention economy.

Powerful societal shifts are transforming art criticism. Amidst the long-overdue diversification of the artistic field, an art market that seems to exert as much influence on art as artists, critics, and curators, and a turbo-charged attention economy, the field is changing. This course will take participants through the discipline’s history and theory, and prepare them to engage with art criticism either as active readers or contributors.

Given the long-overdue dismantling of the Eurocentric artistic canon, critics must now take context and intention into account before writing a word. Increasingly, their role has less to do with judging art, and more to do with offering readers entry points into heterogeneous practices. At the same time, critics are still tasked with taking positions. How to reckon with these conflicting demands? This workshop will address this dilemma, while familiarizing participants with key themes in art criticism through readings, discussions, and exhibition visits.

Through writing exercises and feedback sessions, the workshop will hone participant’s abilities to convey and critically examine the experience of artworks. We’ll ask: Is it possible or worthwhile to passionately defend an artwork or show that you disliked? Who is art criticism really for? When all social media users can easily publish their own opinions, what does it mean to be a critic?

Course leader

Mitch Speed and Kate Brown.

Fee info