“The art critique forms an integral part of not only art education, but a variety of professional or semi-professional arts programs, of which artist residencies are one. However, the function of a critique is misty at best. There is no exhaustive history of the so-called „art crit,“ nor is there a particular methodology to how it should be conducted. Despite the fact that art has diversified into many sub-classifications—performance, conceptual, activist, archival, to name a few—and the evaluation of quality has been relativized by the introduction of new mediums and non-European traditions, the crit still forms the backbone of many art academies.

The artist’s crit is increasingly coming under scrutiny, prompting more questions than answers: What criteria are being used and how obvious are these criteria? How are power relations in crits negotiated? Is it possible to maintain an atmosphere of experimental transgression and keep participants safe? How does the language of the crit differ from art criticism? What relationship does language have to art? These questions will be addressed in the seminar so as to make apparent the complex negotiation that occurs when artists talk about their work to a particular audience.” (Text & photo by courtesy of Dagmara Genda, photo: Dagmara Genda during her seminar at BAI, August 2019)

BENEFITS participants will gain in the course are:

• an awareness of the different types of dialogues one can have about art
• a series of strategies that can be used to acquire useful feedback about one’s work, or to aid in giving feedback to others
• an overview of different ways crits are and have been conducted in different institutions
• a brief “history” of how artists have talked about art

Min. seats: 5 | Max. seats: 30 | Language: English