SANTA FE—It’s like this: We take our assignments home, mull over techniques from the classroom, and combine new skills with fresh creative impulse.

Drinking late-night coffee, working and re-working drafts, salvaging those little lines or pieces that are “working” for us, we crumple up drafts, or re-paint an entire canvas. Sometimes, we work for weeks up to the very last minute before presentation.

We all have our own approach, but if we’re committed to our art, we find something of our true selves invested in the final piece.

Then, we bring our painting, sculpture or writing into the classroom to be viewed and discussed by peers and faculty. It’s called a “critique.” And if you’re a creative writing major, it’s called a “workshop.” Either way, our work is up for open critical examination—the good, bad and the ugly.

We’re all in this together.

Are we getting what we need out of critiques?

What’s the point?

“Critiques are an opportunity to get constructive criticism about work,” said Norman Akers, studio arts department chair at IAIA. “They function at different levels: to get feedback on technical skills, to refine formal issues, and discuss conceptual aspects of student work.”

Akers sums up critiques as a time when students must verbally articulate what their work is about. “It forces students to think about what they are trying to communicate through their art,” Akers said.

Akers points out that critique are important to those offering criticism as well.

“It’s an opportunity to hone verbal skills and to engage in dialogue. It’s part of developing skills. You become aware of vocabulary and language that is a part of art.”

Jon Davis, creative writing faculty, admits to a personal reticence with critiques. “I've always been a reluctant critiquer of work. I came through the workshop system, so, lacking an alternative, I've continued the legacy (as a professor),” Davis said.

Even so, Davis keeps his eyes open for alternative approaches to teaching, though he hasn’t found an effective alternative for the classroom. “Every once in a while I see an article or book that advocates some other method of teaching creative writing, but none of those methods have struck me as very useful.”

The Bad and The Balanced

Critiques, according to Davis, can sometimes have a negative impact on students as well, due to the group setting. “Because of the ‘public’ nature of critiques, I think they have the potential for being destructive even if everyone has the best intentions. I've actually had more success with one-on-one critiques,” Davis said.

Akers and Davis share similar views, both noting the importance of a balanced relationship between criticism and level of study. “Criticism should be appropriate to the level of work that the student is doing. For example, in work from a Painting I class versus a senior project, the critiques are going to be very different,” said Akers

Jon Davis also points to pitfalls in creative writing workshops that occur when writers begin to submit pieces outside of set guidelines; it is not always the student work that is at fault, but group expectations. He says the biggest difficulties arise when students break “the rules” that writing teachers use to get students started.

“The ban on abstraction, for example, so necessary to move students from the teen-angst journaling that we all start with into the realm of poetry, ultimately must be challenged by the dedicated, committed poet. So a workshop that keeps insisting on image over abstraction, thinking that the abstraction is a ‘mistake’ by the poet, won't be very useful,” said Davis.

Critiques That Challenge

Corey Garcia, museum studies major from Acoma Pueblo, N.M., recently wrote an essay about a critique that became a turning point in the quality of work he brought to class.

During his first semester at IAIA, Garcia took a drawing class with Char Teters, studio arts faculty member currently on leave.

“I had completely forgotten about a drawing assignment that was due within a few hours. After lunch, I rushed to my dorm room and began a continuous line drawing,” said Garcia.

Speeding through his drawing assignment, Garcia had nothing to pull inspiration from, so he drew his dorm room closet because it was closest in proximity and fit the dimensions of his sketch pad. Later in class critique, Garcia introduced his piece by talking about continuous line and its presence in everything around us.

According to Garcia, Professor Teters moved around the room inspecting assignments. She looked at him and his drawing with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, and asked the rest of the class, “Does anyone have anything to say? No. Is it so boring we’ve looked passed it and we're ready to move on?”

Teters’ comments intensely affected the first-semester art student. “I sat in my chair partly stunned and embarrassed, looking over at a friend, giving an oh-my-god-look… Needless to say, I never turned in another poorly executed drawing,” Garcia wrote.

“But you know, critiques are not like that anymore, I don’t think. They’re very diplomatic and kind… The brutality is gone,” Garcia later noted.

“No Such Thing as a Negative Critique”

April Holder, 3-D major from Shawnee, Okla., agrees with the sentiment that brutality or harsh criticism should be expected if you’re involved with critiques.

“The root of critiquing is to criticize. There’s no such thing as a negative critique. I mean, people can tear you apart and you can still learn from that,” Holder said, who recently underwent senior critique for midterms. She characterized criticism of her work as “good” and “bad,” and took it in stride.

“To me a negative critique is one where people just praise you and you don’t learn anything from it. A critique where you learn more about what you are capable of is a good critique,” Holder said, defining her views on the process. “You have to be able to withstand criticism in order to improve.”

“ I take critiques with a grain of salt,” said Mary Lone Hill, creative writing major from Rapid City, S.D.

However, after participating in a recent workshop at Santa Fe Art Institute, she said, “I realized that a little affirmation goes a long way.”

Lone Hill attended a workshop led by Alfredo Jaar, Chilean visual artist and intellectual, known for his public interventions. She’d entered the workshop and critique without many expectations for praise.

“I wasn’t expecting anything. I was just honored to be there, and went to soak up as much information as possible. He’s a very analytical man,” Lone Hill said. As participants in the workshop showed their work, Jaar dished out harsh and honest critiques. According to Lone Hill, some left the room in tears.

Criticism an Important Element in Any Art Form

“I was really nervous to hear what he had to say (when) I showed him an installation that I’d done. I really didn’t think he was going to like it. I was sitting there like ‘Oh my God! Here we go, I’m gonna cry!’”

Lone Hill said Jaar listened intently to an explanation of her piece. When she was finished, Jaar shook his head and said, “Okay. Next!”

“So I had to ask him point blank, ‘Did you like my piece?’ And he goes, ‘I thought it was obvious! Oh, you want to hear it again? I like your piece!’” Lone Hill said with laughter.

When Lone Hill returned from Christmas vacation, there was a check in the mail from Jaar. He’d sent her a grant to work on a project of her choosing.

“I think criticism is an important element in any art form – how you take it, how you deal with it, and later how you process it,” Lone Hill said. She admits that she doesn’t always change her work according to critiques, but she sees the classroom setting as preparation for larger critiques when there is more at stake.

“The most ground-breaking art comes from an inexplicable place – a place that is going to maybe leave people very uncomfortable,” Lone Hill said. Because of her fearless attitude, Lone Hill doesn’t expect positive feedback on her work at every critique. Nonetheless, she can attest to the benefits of encouragement, especially from the toughest critics.

Getting the most out of our experience

Whether we receive positive or negative feedback on our work, critiques open a forum for discussion, to potentially get to the heart of our work as artists.

“It would be good for someone to come and shake things up in a way that gets a positive result… I often see students with skills who are not willing to push themselves,” Akers said. He invites students to make use of their time at IAIA, and the exchange of ideas that happens here.

He observed that because of the history of IAIA, there is often a drive among students to create a product. He reminds us of the basics: “Really, this school is about taking chances, experimenting and being involved in that creative process.”

Copyright © 2007 IAIA Chronicle