2021, I am following art modules at the College of Arts online. I have a textbook on how to judge art, how to criticise. The book has been written by the art critic Terry Barrett.
And I wonder, is this necessary to judge art by a textbook?
Who is the man behind this book that he is writing a textbook to start reviewing art. A lecturer. Someone with a PhD. Someone who knows better and prescribes how to do it.
Terry Barrett was trained as young boy to become a priest. He spent years meditating and chanting and stopped his training because he wanted to be more ‘grounded’. He then studied philosophy and art. He started teaching after his bachelor's, then went on to master's, PhD, honorary doctorate, continued learning and teaching even after retirement. He was born in 1945 (retired for some time) and still writes, also still gives guest lectures occasionally.
A brilliant career in his field. And someone who can stay very close to himself, given his personal thoughts that he also has published.
Terry Barrett ( ‘Taking it Personally’ 2014, chapter 15 – a personal narrative about my many years of teaching people to respond to works of art.)
“During my early years of teaching, I was concerned of obtaining interpretations that were more ‘right’ than not….That fit the work being interpreted, that brought insight to it, and that could be defended by evidence.”
“As I accumulate years of reflective teaching and living , I continue to soften to the human plight , and I nurture a growing sense of awe about the mysteries of life and death. When teaching responsiveness to works of art, I am now focusing my energy on gaining insights into life, not just into art, through investigations of artworks , and especially through developing an awareness of a work's significance for a person's life. As I age, I tend to encourage people to investigate their own life stories and how their constructed narratives about their lives influence their interpretations of works of art. I increasingly and explicitly encourage viewers of art to make connections between artworks and their lives and to share these connections with others in ways that might alleviate alienation, lessen loneliness , and build connections and communities that support individual growth toward the betterment of the world in general.”
I find life stories interesting, and how he can describe changing so much over the years - without even compromising what he has built. Whole life interpretation of art based on evidence....study after study... to arrive, to describe afterwards that you can also judge art in a different way.
So I use this textbook, assess art like he did at the beginning of his career too, and believe more in what he believes now:
Art is a personal experience.
Judge art by your own experience.