The Critic
A critic is someone who is dissatisfied. That’s the meaning of the artist’s complaint — everyone’s a critic. In this view a critic is really a hater.
But that is not necessarily the only view of a critic, that is the view from outside criticism and outside the critic, but the question of whether this view matches up to the individual critic really depends on the critical theories under which the critic works.
What are the parameters within which the critic criticizes.
In Illuminati Ganga our core critical parameters are laid out in the article
The first 4 precepts for anyone hoping to speak meaningfully about any art-form are that you should be able to differentiate between:
1.Art that is good and to your taste
2.Art that is bad and to your taste
3. Art that is good and not to your taste
4. Art that is bad and not to your taste.
aside from these a critic must also be able to differentiate between works that are
1. important in relation to their creator
2. Unimportant in relation to their creator
3. Important in relation to other works
4. Unimportant in relation to other works
Another point the article makes is that a critic should not spend much of their time on art that they do not like, leaving that to reviewers.
So it follows that, while it may seem otherwise to artists and to those that love a particular work, that a critic often also loves and appreciates the artist, which is sensible — why in the world would you want to spend a significant portion of your life with art you hated.
This means that for the first 4 qualities a critic should spend their time with mainly art that is good and to their taste, some little bit of time with art that is good and not to their taste, approximately the same about of time with art that is bad and to their taste — generally to draw some sort of contrast with the art that is good and to their taste and to also clarify the limits of their taste to those who read the critic for guidance, and hopefully very little time with art that is bad and not to their taste.
We should also note that while the first 4 requirements are the ones that determine what art the critic should spend their time with, it is the second 4 requirements that tell you what the critic should discuss about the art they spend their time with.
But why should they be discuss these things, it is because the critic does share one aspect of a reviewer, and that is the necessity to tell you if a work of art is any good, and why it is any good, but goodness for a critic must always be in relation to other works and the history of the art altogether.
This article was written by IG Agent 13.
