Reading Response #2

I open with this image, one that you may have seen if you read my introduction.

Nevertheless, a quick recap: I was a theater critic in a program at my high school called CAPPIES.

I also won an award for it, giving me the title of 'Top Critic'. And that is where my screen name for this blog comes from.

I won't ramble on about that for too long here, but the reason I bring it up is because it relates to the next piece I want to respond to that we read in class.

Reading Response: "The Critic"

by Edmund Burke Feldman.

We went over this particular reading in the lecture titled "Exhibition Reviews and Art Criticsm" that occurred in early October.

Since I have a bit of experience writing critical reviews related to arts & culture, I came into reading this piece with some prior knowledge.

I think the main argument of this piece could be summed up in one line early on in the work that I took it upon myself to highlight when I first read it through.

"While art has power in itself, the power of talk about art should not be underestimated."

Of course this piece more or less explains the idea of criticism in the arts, looking more specifically at visual art. It talks about different kinds of critics and explains how criticism has a place in today's culture.

This piece helped me a lot when it came to my exhibition review. I've never really been one to fully appreciate or understand all of the significance behind visual art, so I was a bit worried about our exhibition review assignment, even with the very limited word count.

When you're reviewing and looking critically at theater, it's so different. Everything you have to review is right there in front of you: lighting cues, acting performance, set design, music, it's all there. In a way maybe it's too easy when you look at the more complex world at critiquing visual works of art.

And one thing that Feldman points out in a way relates to that idea of ignorance with regard to visual art. He states that critics are in "the business of making public sense out of art."

That's so true, isn't it? I could much more easily read an exhibition review than I could to go down to an exhibit myself and come to any sort of tangible conclusions.

Feldman labeled art criticism as so many things, and they are all so different from what I'm used to in reviewing theater, and these points helped me to better understand what I was meant to write in my own exhibition review.

Like the two agendas of a critic: "to comment on the aesthetic organization and technical execution of works of art" and "to comment on the interests and values symbolized or expressed in works of art."

That's much like how we discussed the key points of visual analysis in our lecture, only it's not expressed in point form like it was in lecture.

Such as when we spoke about the artist's intentions being a key part of a visual analysis, if they are known. Feldman seemed to hit the nail right on the head:

"[art criticism] is a kind of collective commentary about the hopes, wishes, and fears expressed in the work of the 'talented' few who are determined to paint or perform in public."

Also, there is another point of this article that I related to, although it's a bit unrelated.

When he speaks about how critics, when they get their pieces written in a newspaper or magazine, can find them in "the back section, in the 'cultural affairs' ghetto" of the publication.

It's sad how true that is. I remember hunting for my reviews in high school, they were always in the very back of the Welland Tribune, and it was more or less a hunt to find the published reviews.

Maybe arts & culture aren't as prominent in people's 'must-read' thoughts when they open up a newspaper, maybe Sports beats them out, but still, I feel like it's a depressing comment on our culture that the arts is always lumped to the back. Has it always been that way? I'll have to do some research.

Anyway, that's all for now! See ya later.

~ topCAPcritic

Independent Post #1

The picture above is a card I received from a very lovely lady that lives in the UK. She also plans on sending me some geeky embroidery inspired by the game Bioshock Infinite, which we both love.

It's adorable, right? everybody loves a good crochet octopus with a sailor hat!

Anyway, the reason I've begun this post with that particular picture is that I wanted to combine one of my passions with an arts & culture post on this blog for a while, and about a month ago I found the solution!

Of course it took me this long to get the post written out, but oh well!

See, I am a big fan of sending out letters and post cards to people who appreciate them as much as I do. Nowadays, with email and texting and all that technology floating around, this is otherwise known as Snail Mail.

Ever since joining the International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club (IGGPPC), I've had a pen pal of my own, and we've been sending each other letters back and forth.

Here are a few pictures of the letters & gifts that my pen pal sent me for my birthday in August.

I also joined an incredible group called Postcrossing.com

The premise there is that you can send and receive post cards from all over the world! I haven't received any yet, since I only recently joined, but I have sent out two cards, one to Germany, which arrived at its destination safely, and one to Russia, which is still en route.

Here is a picture of the card I sent out to Russia.

I bought a slew of post cards last time I was in Toronto, and now they're coming in handy :)

Anyway, I suspect that it's time to actually get to the point and connect all of this to arts and culture.

Well, while searching on the internet I happened to find another blog, also hosted on Blogspot, that is called Mail Art Postcard Exhibition.

Truthfully when I had been conducting my internet search I'd been hoping for more of a true blue art exhibit showcasing post cards (because that would be amazing, right?).

Instead I found this, and while it's not actually out there on display in a gallery or studio, it still works.

And truthfully, it gets me to thinking.

The reason that snail mail has died out so much is because of several advances with technology, and the fact that it's much easier to email somebody instantly for free than to pay postage to send a letter that can take however much time to arrive.

I'll admit, snail mail may not be convenient anymore, but it isn't really about convenience nowadays, is it?

It's about recapturing something that has been lost. It's tangible nostalgia, to run down to the mailbox in the morning and be excited when you see an envelope addressed to you (and when it's not a bill).

In a way, isn't a lot of art center around that idea, about capturing something that has been lost? Not just visual art, but even music and theater can portray that ideal in their own way.

It's funny to have an exhibit of post cards being displayed through an electronic medium. It's almost contradictory in a way, when you really think about it. But nevertheless, the person behind that exhibition blog has been doing it since 2004, and that is certainly impressive.

I really do appreciate snail mail. It has me connecting with people in a way I wouldn't be able to simply through email.

And it's something that always has me gazing at the card selection at the store in awe. There's so many colours and types to choose from, it's near impossible!

(The stationary section is one area where Target beats out Wal-Mart.)

I think that's about all I have to say for now! So until next time,

~ topCAPcritic

Reading Response #1

SO, I'm guess it's probably obvious at this point, but I haven't really been keeping up with the blog as I was supposed to.

It's been a crazy semester, crazier than I'm used to. But I'm not going to use this post in order to make excuses, because that's no fun. Bottom line is, I'm behind, and I'm hoping to catch up before this baby is due. If I lose marks because of my slacking, then so be it, but I'm still gonna put a full effort into my writing so that I can be evaluated on the quality of my work.

Let's get things started then, shall we?

I'm gonna start off doing one of those lovely reader responses that we have been assigned. I'm going to start off with something easy, and only because I knew from the moment that this was assigned that I wanted to write about it.

Reader Response: "Belief & Technique for Modern Prose"

by Jack Kerouac.

So Kerouac came up in the lecture titled "Back to Basics: Grammar, Style, and How to 'Paint With Words'" that happened early in the semester.

The text is, simply enough, a list.

But the list does have some good advice for aspiring writers to follow.

I should admit, some of the points that Kerouac brings up made me flinch the first time I read them.

Mainly the many instances of "yr" instead of "your" as well as one particular item on the list:

"13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition"

For me, that's easier said than done.

I am what many people would like to call a Grammar Nazi.

(fingers crossed that I don't end up offending anybody . . .)

I thrive on keeping my writing grammatically correct. I plan on being an editor someday, and while that's only one part of the job, it's a part that I'm pretty good at so far.

I'll even prove it: You may have seen this already, but here is a sticker that decorates the back of my laptop.

Yeeeeah . . . That's me.

Of course I understand Kerouac's point completely. It's a point that English teachers and writers alike have been trying to drill into my head for years: when it comes time to write, just write! Don't worry about it being pretty or perfect right away, that's what revision is for.

Even knowing this, it's a difficult point to really grasp. Nevertheless, I'm still trying.

Now back to this piece and the lecture. From what we learned about Kerouac, his writing appears to come off as interpretive, because Kerouac has a personal involvement with what he writes and his writing attempts to engage readers intellectually and emotionally.

Of course, there is also a critical component to his works, because all of his characters are in fact based off real people and a big chunk of what he wrote about actually happened to him. There are elements of critical writing in the examples we were given, but all in all I'd like to personally interpret his writing as, well, interpretive.

I do really like this text. Points he has taken to add to his "list of Essentials" would surely help out any aspiring writer.

Points such as "17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself" and "5. Something that you feel will find its own form" These points are worded in a sense that I'm not really used to reading on my own, but they still manage to make perfect sense.

All in all I'm glad that we were assigned this reading, and I know I'll have to keep this list of essentials in mind for when I further pursue writing, either related to arts and culture or even outside of that.

I think that's a good place to end on for now. See you next time!

~ topCAPcritic

Introduction

Hello there!

I know my screen name lists me as 4EvaGeek, but that name is perhaps better associated with the Geek Culture blog I'm keeping up for the purposes of another University course I'm enrolled in.

Here, you can call me topCAPcritic, and I am starting this blog for my WRIT 3P99 course, also known as Interpretive & Critical Writing In The Arts.

You might be a bit curious about my name, and if you are, I will explain it to you.

My first - and main - experience with arts & culture writing prior to this class would be in high school. In my senior year I was a member of a program called CAPPIES, where I got to travel to different schools in the region that were putting on various plays or musicals. I would take notes during the performances, write a review of the production, and the top three reviews would be published in the local newspapers, the first one in its entirety and the second and third in part.

I did fairly well in this program, so much so that during the award ceremony in May I was given an award along with a trophy, naming me Top Critic for the CAPPIES group of 2010. I shared the honor with another girl in the program. Getting to accept that award, and the entire process of going to see the productions and write the reviews, was definitely a highlight of my high school career.

So that is where the name comes from. top_critic is the name of the award I received, and the CAP is a short form to CAPPIES. And now you know :)

I have 5 posts where I need to reflect on readings, and another 5 posts where I can write about pretty much anything else related to the course. I'm hoping to do some digging and find some interesting things regarding arts & culture to write about.

Guess we'll see how well that turns out :) So until next time!

Sincerely,

~ topCAPcritic