Criticism
 

How do you respond to it?

I'm used to every nudnik on the planet taking it upon themselves to email me and lecture me on how they wouldn't eat blue rice. Sometimes stuff in print is unnecessarily bitchy too. My reactions are mainly

1) wtf?

and

2) Who the hell asked you?

and

3) Good thing I didn't do this for you, then, huh?


I wonder if those artists who, you know, put toilets on top of telephone poles or whatever get people sending them letters to let them know they wouldn't use a toilet on top of a telephone pole.

I ignore it. Or say "I'll take it into consideration."

Whenever someone takes it upon themselves to criticize you, that's a good thing, no matter how retarded. There's nothing worse than everyone just glancing over everything and bailing.


What pisses me off is when people criticize my cooking. Every goddamn time I volunteer to cook for a large group of people, two to three jackasses/bitches (that I don't know) won't be used to eating tolerable food. THIS WILL CONFUSE AND PANIC THEM.

Bitch A: "Um... what is this?"
Me: "It's a pork tenderloin."
Bitch A: "What's this stuff on it?"
Me: "That's a port glaze."
Bitch A: "OH MY GOD, IT'S RAW. I CAN'T EAT THIS!"
Me: "Shit! Really? Let me see, if it didn-

"what the hell are you talking about, this is pearly white the whole way through."


Bitch A: "I know that. But look at this, [pokes it with her fork] it's way too soft."
Me: "... That's called being tender."

Bitch A, now annoyed: "Uh, yeah. I know. But it's not supposed to be that tender. I can't eat this. It's raw."


Or, alternatively, people freak out because the inside of their steak came out a rosy pink, rather than the dry fucking grey death that they're used to. You can never convince these people that their food isn't raw. Everyone else at the party loves it, everyone else tries to help you explain that TENDER AND JUICY ARE GOOD THINGS, but nothing will ever get these people to realize that they don't know shit about shit. And they make you recook their food until it's DRY AND TOUGH, and the fact that it is now dry and tough after cooking it longer reconfirms their firm belief that it wasn't cooked long enough the first time.















Then they ask you if there's any ketchup.

Put it back on the heat until it's dried out beyond any recognizability as food, then give it back to the exact same person stating "Bon Apetit!".

There's also the time-honored statement: "THANKS! IT REALLY MATTERS TO ME WHAT YOU THINK."

I think that people who can't take criticism are self-absorbed asses who don't care if they can improve their work or not because doing so would require effort.

If I receive criticism that I don't agree with, I either discuss the disagreement in the effort to learn something or, if they're idiots, I just ignore them.

i'll take criticism under consideration as long as it's from someone who understands what the fuck they're talking about

fin

I always try to do something different and I move around between styles a lot because I'm the most harsh critic. I like it when people think stuff is cool, but if there's no improvements to make that I can see, I gotta rely on someone else's opinion.

Sometimes I need criticism.

:)

the self-absorbed asses theory sounds good (who doesn't love to hate a self-absorbed ass?), but the way I feel about my stuff, I do what I do and it is what it is and there it is, like it or lump it.

That's just my own personal thing, and probably why I end up so confused and pissed off when someone gets hold of something I never submitted for their approval and acts like that's what I did. That's the criticism I have a problem with. If it's in a format where I'm putting my stuff out there for review, sure, say whatever the hell you want.

I take opinions of all critics with a grain of salt because....

In Shakespeare's time, his work was considered by critics to be lowest common denominator tripe that would only appeal to the low class. After I learned that, I decided the old saying is true, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.

Shakespeare's work did cater to the lowest common denominator. The reason it became respected is because he was the first to successfully break away from the traditional stories, or rather the settings, found in plays of the time. Most people, like you apparently, don't realize this because they can't pick up on all the double entendres about pussy as English has changed so much since William's time. It just sounds so fancy and smart. :o

Also, you're a self-absorbed ass.

Wasn't Shakespeare a big fat thief too?

I don't know about the man, only the legend.

see this is just my problem with some of the art world in general. people think that art is this absolutely 100% personal thing and usually stand by the argument "if i made it and i like it how it is, then that's it." this begs the question, then why put it in a gallery? if you like it, why do you care if someone else does? and if you care about other people caring, then you kind of need to care about other people not caring, and why.

but seriously, art is about community thought and learning and understanding. all artists are taking thoughts and conventions of the human eye, mind, ear, etc. and turning them into something. we're all human and we all have the ability to make anything that anyone else can. so i think any criticism should be taken with that in mind. if someone is being an ass for ass-sake then that's dumb (but that goes with anything, right?)

i want criticism on anything i make, because i make art with the intent of it being publicly accessible in some form. i want to have conversations with people about the subjects i'm working with (whether it be something highly conceptual or just the mannerisms of drawing) and be able to heighten my understanding of the world through their thoughts

WE'RE AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL IN THIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS TOGETHERRRRRRRRRR

On the subject of the example of : "Blue rice should not be eaten"

That dude is a stupid dumb face.

I agree with Grislygus, criticism is much better than being completely ignored. Sometimes criticism is all people are comfortable offering.

Kitsa, these people that criticized your work probably enjoyed it and wanted to reach out to you some way but felt too self-conscious for a simple "I liked it," so instead they offered some arbitrary criticism. When you fire back with "wow! thanks a lot bozo," their hearts break and they never reach out to anyone ever again. And then they die all alone, never being touched and never touching anyone. Like a rock, like an island :(

That is all correct. For the record though, I did know of the double entendres. I was making a point about opinions and how they should be treated as meaningless

I don't know why you think I am a self absorbed ass though. For that matter I don't care either.

:lol

Glad you got that.

I think I'm saying what I mean wrong and at the moment I'm too tired to try and rearrange it.

I'm not saying that an individual's art is above criticism. I'm saying that art is its own ephemeral thing, and that "getting better" does not apply. You made what you made. I mean, there's "getting better" at drawing, but usually you hear that out of people who think the objective is photorealism. Maybe someone draws like Napoleon Dynamite, but the message gets across.

Or maybe it's just human for people to evaluate "progress" in others in terms of the others becoming more like themselves. Because I have seen that a lot, in nearly every situation.

Whatever, fuck it, riff on this and go however you want to go. Nothing I say matters to anyone but me, and even that's pretty sketchy these days.

Oh man :(

The point at which you actually stop getting better is when you think that you don't need to get any better.




















That was a clumsy-ass sentence right there

Oh, the joke was intentional? Forgive me, I'm sure that you can understand my mistake though, considering that you just made a point that other's opinion's should be disregarded, backed up that idea with an example which, evidently, is completely unrelated and topped it off with a trite expression. I just wasn't aware that I was writing to someone who understood sarcasm. :\

What you say matters to me, Kitsa. :(

Dammit, what I'm trying to say is that there is no "better". You just move from phase to phase in whatever it is you're doing.

It's like saying you could be a little more Grislygus.