Reading Assignment 1

1. The author’s thesis is that critics use description to talk or write about a work of art. Description relies on numerous factors to give the audience the most information about a work of art, and thus it becomes a process that all works together to create the “perfect package” for which a critic analyzes a work of art and the audience understands it.

2. The author uses several examples when describing the process a critic takes (or should take). He uses works from Tunick and Rashid Johnathan, and names Avedon to illustrate his points about the process.

3.

A) Description according to the author, is when a critic uses facts and verifiable observations about a work. Descriptions are used to give the reader a better sense of a critic’s judgments and opinions. In the text, critic Davis uses description to state that he’s interpreted the work as being vary stylized, judges that it fails and succeeds because so.

B) Subject is the message or point of the art, and the subject matter is who is delivering that message or point. In the example given, Tunick’s photograph’s subject was about freedom of speech, and the subject matter were the 4500-nude people. The subject matter projects and emphasizes the subject.

C) Form is how the subject matter is presented. In a way, it is like the mis-en-scene of a photograph. Form is how the lines, colors, shapes, values, texture, and scale are arranged and viewed by an audience.

D) Medium is what the artwork is made of and more importantly, how it is presented. For example, a photograph about a clay person has clay, metal wiring, light bulbs, etc. The way that the photography is viewed is via a photography.

E) Style is how the artist treats the subject matter and formal elements which are influenced by the period, geographical location, and society. Style is someone the audience will look at interpretively and are mostly determined by the subject matter and the form.

4.

A) Comparing and Contrasting, as it states, is when one takes a work of art, and finds the similarities and differences it has with other works by the artist or by other works by other artists. Barrett’s position on their relationship is that comparing requires the critic to understand the other works which they are comparing with, and contrasting requires the same.

B) Internal and External Sources of Information relates to how a critic sees certain works from an artist. A critic who researches a fair amount of external sources will have more background information about a work of art because they know more about the intent and process the artist undertook. Internal sources are from the work itself and thus lend itself to more interpretation.

5.

A) Description and Interpretation refer to the process by which a critic describes and interprets a photograph. For example, a critic may use interpretation to identify the most important aspect to the work, and then use those to relay the description of said work. Before one can describe, one must interpret.

B) Description and Evaluation refers to the way critics describe what they are seeing, as well as tie in a positive or negative reaction to the work. They both work off each other, in that within the description, a critic will make clear their evaluation of the work. This in turn gives the audience an idea about the success or failure that the work has on trying to tell the subject. Descriptions contain evaluation.

6.

A) I think that the author was trying to say that when we compare and contrast as critics, we should aim to research other works from other artist in order to better understand the relevance the work we’re reviewing has with other works that’ve come before it. Another thing I think the author is trying to say is that when we follow the “system” that critics should follow, we can better analyze and relay information about the work we’re viewing to people who have not or cannot see the work we see. In this sense, we offer a more rich and valuable review of the work.

B) I learned that Style is comprised of the time period, geography, and subject matter. This gave me a new insight into what style was in an artistic sense. I also learned that Internal and external sources play a very big role in how critics relay information about a work of art. Knowing the context about a work of art and being able to articulate what the work of art makes you feel really helps people who can’t see the work or who haven’t know what to see and think.

C) The authors conclusion is that description of any artwork is vital in allowing a critic to relay the necessary information to an audience about the work in question. Description allows the critic to have insight about the work of art, and allows audience to make better informed judgments about a work of art because they know what to look for. In the end, description is criticism, but one that is needed.

D) I though the material was very informative. The process of description gave me insight into how I should approach artwork of any kind. It hammers in that we should all be critics in our own way by really analyzing the work we’re seeing in order to gain a bigger picture and a further appreciation of any work that goes into art.