What Is Criticism In The Arts?

Do the arts benefit from academic critic and theorists? Or do they merely obfuscate the work and confuse the audience?

Recent debate around education funding has shone a bright light on the Humanities, and perhaps especially those subjects whose task is the appreciation, understanding or “criticism” of artistic creations. Is this activity a worthwhile use of our time at all? Does it produce knowledge, opinion or something else? Is it even defensible on its own terms, in the aftermath of postmodern and neopragmatist scepticism within these disciplines?

Dr Andrew McGettigan is a lecturer at Central Saint Martins and has written widely on the philosophy of art and art criticism as well as producing criticism of his own, largely in the fields of film and music. He will invite us to ask whether creative artists need or benefit from theory and academic criticism, or whether our creative lives are better off without them.

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