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by code_duck
1593 days ago
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This is what drove me nuts about literary and art classes, in addition to working in an artistic field. I would read artist statements from other artists and think wow, that’s a bit overblown, then talk to them, and it turned they thought it was BS too. But it was what curators and collectors were looking for. In literature classes, teachers would have specific interpretations about symbolism of small details and expect us to share the same interpretation and repeat it on tests. |
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"Everything you need to know is already hanging on the wall" is not considered an acceptable response.
The work needs to question, challenge, interrogate, and subvert, and artists definitely need to Be Interested in specific culturally niche things.
Lit crit, curation, the gallery scene, and visual and musical criticism are alternative industries - somewhere between symbiotic and parasitic on the creators who make the art.
You can make a very fine career for yourself by developing a reputation for making outrageous statements about other people's work. Popular music journalism isn't too bad at this, but by the time you get to academia it all gets very rarefied, meta, bullshitty, and (in reality) aggressively careerist.