The Story It Tells

Ranting and Raving: My Critique on Good Critiquing

I personally don’t like it when other people critique my work. It’s not that I hate being scrutinized or belittled or told I did something wrong. I actually love all those things. My main problem is the degree at which people critique my work. Too often they are not well versed, or don’t even speak for that matter, and/or haven’t the foggiest understanding of other cultures, thus not bringing anything interesting or intelligible to the table.

I’m great at critiquing, because for one, I’m not afraid to say what I think or feel. True story. If your abstract sculpture looks like cock and balls entangling and erupting all over a female figure, I’m going to say that I feel the piece’s main theme is centered around male domination… or that it looks like cock and balls entangling and erupting all over the female figure. But don’t fuckin’ giggle or roll your eyes at me when I say that, because I just said something somewhat profound that could lead the discussion in a new interesting direction… You don’t want me to identify you as the stupid idiot in class. When it’s your turn, I’m going to demolish your piece and make you cry. Will I feel bad about it when you actually start to cry? Yes. And then I’ll have to make up something that I actually liked about your piece or tell you that I didn’t mean it.

Another reason I’m great at critiquing is because I’ve trained my mind to open up when people say new things to me… like an unclogged drain. You like to draw kittens when you’re not worshipping Satan? That’s cool! I’m open minded... Sometimes I think that some people just can’t do that though. It’s not their fault. They were probably raised that way or just grew up in a home where it wasn’t necessary or needed to develop an open mind. I just don’t want to talk to them though.

I think that it is really important for people to understand how to critique well. Critiquing is an art form in and among itself. You have to train your mind to respond differently to each work you critique just as you would respond to a different assignment, inspirational thought or canvas. It's also important that we soak it up as much as possible because it drives us to create more involved art pieces and it helps us to critique ourselves.