| > I have conflicted feelings about this. Is it really a "mistake" if you don't understand some subtle context about artwork that would not be clear to the casual reader either? Or, as an art critic, is it your responsibility to be aware of all these subtexts, so you can educate your readers about them? I think this broadly depends on what role you view art critique as having. In the opening paragraph, the author does a great job (IMO) of outlining his perspective: "As a critic, I’ll suggest that I can sensitize my readers and listeners to what they didn’t see or grasp or apprehend when they witnessed the same art or performance." If you view critique as a way of exploring new perspectives, subtle context can be one of the ways in which a critic can help add to the conversation surrounding a work. While it's not necessarily a critic's responsibility to understand every piece of background info at every moment, it's also understandable that a critic might view their own omission of a particular piece of context as a failure to provide additional insight that they believe they might have been able to contribute in a review, especially they view the goal of their critique to be that act of "sensitizing." > More broadly, does great art have to be immediately striking and accessible? Part of what Rodney might argue here is that it's not necessary for art itself to be striking/accessible, but a good critic can make such art accessible by virtue of dedicating themselves to the understanding of "subtle contexts." > If a piece of art resonates only with people who share the artist's context (like the mentioned punning pronunciation of "boy" in a given dialect), can a critic lacking that context review it, or a viewer appreciate it? I'd argue that context isn't a strict requirement for appreciation, but that it can often be a useful way to construct additional meaning, to find additional appreciation for a work beyond the initial appraisal. It's different for everyone, but I love art and art critique, and these are the ways of thinking that I've personally found bring me the most joy/fulfillment when thinking about art. |