[Walter Benjamin’s]…idea is that criticism does not stand outside the work of art, but stands alongside, maybe even inside, the work of art, participating in the work in order to further express and tease out what the artist already put there. In this theory of criticism, we don’t need the critic to tell us what is good or bad, to tell us what to like and dislike. We need the critic, instead, to help us experience. We need the critic in the way that we need a friend or a lover. We need the critic as a companion on a journey that is a love affair with the things of the world.

An Excerpt from a fascinating article about the state of criticism in 2011. Read the full piece here.

Mixed media piece by studio318

Tags:aestheticsartart criticismcriticismstudio318Walter Benjamin