'The merging of different motif areas in her drawings and the transformation of spacial relationships into flat correspondences gathers towards a distortion of depicted reality and the dissolution of its phenomenal form.' I didn't try to reach the sense of this. I understood the point of it was to transpose the locus of authority from the works to the discussion of the works. The writer had assumed the role of validating authority for the images he discussed. In order to do this he had been required to transform what he saw with his eyes into ideologies that he could 'see' with his intellect.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author critiques how art criticism shifts authority from the artwork to the writer's interpretation.
- In plain terms
- Critics sometimes replace art with their own ideas.
- What can you take from it?
- Trust the artwork over the critic's theory.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who holds authority in art?
- Do critics obscure meaning?
Another view
Discussion can still add value to art.
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