Desiderata

Art historical retention and research. Art writing. Critical thinking. They are like any other learned skill. You need to continually practice them or they start to fade. Then when you finally get the courage to put pen to paper you've got scant to say and shit similes . Well, I'd like to start out small. I'm giving myself two weeks to write about a new artist every day. Someone up-and-coming, maybe even just finishing their MFAs. There are two reasons I'm choosing to focus on young artists. The first is that there is limited reading that one can do on an artist that maybe just graduated college. They are not in history books yet. They probably have a website and links to reviews of their senior project. I need to regain the skill of inferring, analyzing and dissecting works of art based on the visuals and available context alone. I need to remember what it's like to do original research. Maybe I'll even reach out to the artists personally. Young artists ar...

"We might remind ourselves that criticism is as inevitable as breathing, and that we should be none the worse for articulating what passes in our minds when we read a book and feel an emotion about it, for criticizing our own minds in their work of criticism. --T. S. Eliot ( Tradition and the Individual Talent, The Sacred Wood, 1921) Last night we gathered together to read Marie's play. It's not finished, but what it lacks in an ending, it more than makes up for with its heart, voice, and tenacity. I'm seriously proud of Marie for creating something so intriguing, so insightful and so interesting (for lack of a better word). I won't go into any details about the plot/theme/characters here--I'll let you find out all about that once it's inevitably picked up by some super-reputable theater company. Magic reentered my life last night, you guys. That magic smell of freshly sharpened Ticonderoga No 2s. The magic feeling of hitting print on your FinalEssa...