ARTONTRIAL
Register
Listen
Where are We?
The historical absence of space and time for women in art.
Jennifer Higgie
Subscribe to listen
Post-it
Behind the art fact
On the need for the art critic to know the medium.
Elena Vozmediano
Post-it
Behind the art fact
Elena Vozmediano
Criticism, by definition and from its very origins in the Salons, has as its object the art that enters the public sphere. And although a good part of that presence occurs in the market sphere, the one with the greatest social impact occurs in artistic institutions. When we analyze an exhibition, a collection, a decision or action that involves the visual arts, it is very convenient to follow the journalistic rule of the 5W: Who, What, Where, When and Why. For me the fifth W is especially important, which is not so common to detect in articles or essays on art. And even more so when what we analyze happens in the institutional public sphere, in which economic interests, political strategies and ideological pressures converge. I believe that critics, at the service of citizens, have the obligation to investigate and explain whether there are extra-artistic factors in the gestation of projects, in order to properly evaluate them and invite the viewer to critically process the always beautiful “promotional information” that he receives.
Post-it
The Value of Negative Criticism
Viewers will grow distrustful of art that receives no negative feedback.
Paddy Johnson
Post-it
The Value of Negative Criticism
Paddy Johnson
Art is a product. Art criticism exists to help viewers and buyers know how to best spend their time and money. Recognizing this truth provides insight into the role of criticism as an essential component in the marketing of art. Negative criticism offers more than a means of generating website traffic for publishers. Like most products that only have good reviews, viewers and buyers will grow distrustful of art that receives no negative feedback. This applies to any industry, but art has its quirks. The imprimatur of the artist separates art from other types of merchandise. While recognizing faults and making course corrections create a sense of accountability, an artist’s decision to discontinue a series or change its direction in response to negative criticism may be viewed as compromising their vision. Art criticism has limits. Critics don’t have the power to restructure systems of value and knowing this should give us all some measure of comfort. We’re part of a machine that if viewed with a marketing mindset, should allow us to capitalize not just on the positive reviews, but the negative ones too.
Escucha
Persistencia y Resistencia
Comandar un medio de arte en Latinoamérica y no morir en el intento.
Alejandra Villasmil
Subscribe to listen
Escucha
Arte Crítico en Cuba
Suspiros poéticos bailando el Guaguancuir, acerca de la represión en la isla.
Tamara Díaz Bringas
Escucha
Bienvenidos a la Plataforma
Queremos invitarte a que mires al fenómeno artístico desde una mirada distinta.
ARTONTRIAL
Subscribe to listen
Post-it
The Courage of Art Criticism
What it takes to share space, extend power, sit down, and sit back.
Sky Goodden
Post-it
The Courage of Art Criticism
Sky Goodden
In the work of art criticism, courage sits somewhere near the top of the job description, or at least it should. But the kinds of courage we reach for, and in response to what – these are myriad, and I believe some are abiding where others are generational. As recently as five years ago, I thought our best courage-taking in criticism would be to slow down our looking and to resist a sped-up, rapacious market that was eating art’s real-world presence, just as a junked-up, cranked-out publishing metabolism was doing the same to writing online. Each mechanism was more deleterious of generative thinking and unparanoid debate than the last and I couldn’t tell what we were holding between the dripping listicles and theory lashings. I think we’ve too often twinned the idea of courage with speaking up, with stepping out, with claiming something for ourselves. Even this past six months, how many voices have we heard tell us about their privileges, at length, before issuing an anti-racist mea culpa? I am coming to better appreciate the courage it takes to share space, extend power, and also to sit down and sit back, even as one solicits new voices. It’s courageous to continue drafting the room in which we all get to stand up and speak.
Listen
Welcome to the Platform
We want to invite you to look at art with another perspective.
ARTONTRIAL
Subscribe to listen