The studio visit
In the legal trade there exists a universal attorney-to-attorney respect. It’s this convention that sees opposing councils leave the courtroom together talking about their tee time on Sunday. To some degree, lawyers play fair among each other even if they’ll try to bite the head off of someone who chooses to go without representation.
The same peer-to-peer respect occurs in just about every profession, but nowhere is it as dangerous to the profession itself as it is among artists.
The peril lies in the artist-to-artist critique which so many creatives favor. It’s difficult for artists to give useful feedback to other artists. Critiquers often try to spare the critiqued any hurt feelings and, consequently, any truth. This behavior doesn’t stem from malicious motives. Far from it, this is the Golden Rule in practice: the critiquers do not necessarily want to hear the truth about their own work.
When critiquers deviate from the peer-to-peer convention and express strong opinions about another artist’s work, these judgments often arise directly from their own practice. Critiquers end up telling the critiqued how they would make the work. While that’s interesting, it has nothing to do with how the critiqued will do it!
There are two ways to sidestep the ridiculous “respect” dance while still getting useful comments about your work.
1) If you must have another artist in your studio or if you must visit other artists in their workspaces, focus on questions. Phrasing the discussion of a problem area as a question is more open. It keeps both the critiquer and the critiqued from becoming defensive of their opinions or process, and it makes ego-bruising more difficult.
2) Get the criticism from someone who’s not an artist. While feedback from peers is gratifying (especially when it’s steeped in warm and fuzzy artist-to-artist respect), the real audience for art is the wider public, and its members are more qualified to offer helpful comments specifically because of that. Making art for other artists is about as interesting as being an alcoholic bartender. And, while there’s no shortage of elitist creatives and drunken cocktail mixers, they’re hardly the model by which any of us should be living!
Gwenn Seemel
Indian (Indian-American)
2008
acrylic on canvas
48 x 48 inches
(detail below)
This particular painting earned me a good deal of critical responses from artists and non-artists alike. While I heard disapproval from certain members of the Native American community, others were pleased with the work. And, in the end, the painting was purchased—a very healthy and useful kind of feedback!
While artists must have a will and a vision all their own, it is important to avoid being closed to the effect that the work has on the audience. Everybody’s a critic, and that’s a very good thing…if you’re willing to listen.
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CATEGORIES: - Practice -
(4) Comments / Commentaires: The studio visit
I must add to my first comment
a) Your thoughts on non-artist critiques are very useful and original. What your saying is revolutionary for the fine art world. And I think you are 100% a fine artist ( you have an absolute personal vision etc.).
b) Non-artists tend to have great eyes, Alot of times better than artists. They don’t believe it though. The secretary where I work gives me the best advice and has a great eye for color and originality, She helps me more than any PNCA profesor did. She just ends every conversation with “but I don’t know, I’m not an artist” as if Artists have a monopoly on color, originality etc. This holds true for the majority of people who see my work=THEY ARE TOTALLY QUALIFIED TO JUDGE ART. So, I’d have to agree=
Your advice needs to be heeded by artists I.E.
Artists, Show you work to your non-artist friends and family.
In my case, I press them beyond ” wow it looks great!” to more particular questions like “But is there anything that looks a little wrong?” etc.
you are wise beyond your years, my friend.
I wont lie, I love to be congratulated. I really did enjoy you looking at the work that’s up at the Q Center well before I even thought of showing it. You were great ears and you really do follow your own advise by using question based inquiry.
joshua emrich...
Gwenn,
--- -- - --- - ---- - - --- ----- -- -What about the huge problem of art school critiques=
I spent hour after hour after hour listening to teachers and fellow PNCA students praise and in the softest ways (RARELY!) maybe, say something needed looked at in a particular piece. It was all “I like how you did…..” ” I like how you…..” It was like group therapy. And thats find if your taking weekend classes for enjoyment in the gorge, but doesn’t fit at all the proffesional world of Law etc.
I learned nothing from all this praise and when I tried to offer the slightest critique of say basic composition or color use, I was looked shotdown and BAM! back to the praise and soft useless language.