So: arts criticism is a specific skill set and serves a specific function. It's not just having opinions about a thing; it's contextualizing those opinions and shaping the ensuing discussion based on a pro-grade understanding of their aesthetic and cultural context.
Good criticism doesn't tell its audience whether its subject is good or bad. It gives the audience the tools to put that subject in context, interact with it, and challenge it. And it's subject to the same qualifications and ethics as any other public-facing expertise.
Art doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's not context neutral. Good criticism comes armed with the frame of reference to hold it accountable; and the understanding that art is fundamentally not only dialogic but entering existing conversations.
Criticism isn't editorial feedback. It's not for the artist (although artists can and do make use of it as they proceed). It can intersect with lobbies or campaigns, but that's not what it is at its core.
Good criticism expands your sense of what a piece of art is and means; and what it can do; and the ways you can interact with it. Good criticism makes you a more conscious reader. Good criticism makes you ask *your own* questions.
And criticism is important: because ART is important. Because the stories we encounter shape how we perceive and process and interact with reality. Because the conversations we have about the media we make matter.
(Addendum: Anyone who tells you that good criticism is about objectivity is wrong. Good critics are smart and self-aware enough to recognize and own their biases: doing so is a *necessary professional skill.*)
(And YES, there are shitty critics. And there will be good critics you disagree with. That's fine. But there's a difference, and it's important to know that.)
(There is also a lot of REALLY GOOD--often professional-quality--amateur criticism out there. One of the pros AND cons of the web is evening that playing field in some ways. But that also leaves it to readers to separate content from crap, which is a skill in and of itself)
(If this is a thread about why you should pay attention to critics and to the difference between criticism and complaining entertainingly, it is also a thread about why it's important for paying publications to support quality criticism. How we talk about art matters.)
(ALSO: If you're choosing critics to follow, look for ones who bring perspectives different from yours, esp. members of marginalized or underrepresented groups. Because social responsibility; but also, if it doesn't show you something you didn't already see, what's the point?)
