Being Able to critique a piece of art is important in any creative field: film, animation, fine art, photography, design etc. To help you successfully critique art, you can use the following steps: description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. These are the steps in a formal critique.
USE THE FOLLOWING PIECE TO CRITIQUE BELOW:
Please respond to the following questions using complete sentences. Use the questions provided to provide you with information for your paragraphs.
Type in a Word document, save as yourname.doc, and TURN INTO THE SERVER: >Woerman Folder >Assign22 Critique Folder
by Friday April 1, 2011 at 3:30pm.
1. DESCRIBE
This stage is like taking inventory. You want to come up with a list of everything you see in the work. Stick to the facts. Imagine that you are describing the artwork to someone over the telephone.
Note First Impression
Make a note of your first spontaneous reaction to the artwork. By the end of the process you may understand your first impression better or you may even change you mind. There are no wrong answers.
2. ANALYZE
A. Try to figure out what the artist has done to achieve certain effects. You should refer to your first impressions and try to explain how the artwork achieves that reaction.
B. Use the vocabulary you learned in class. For example, if you’re looking at a chain-link graphic, you learned reversals, transparency, complementary or analogous color, etc.
C. What do you notice about the artist's choice of materials?
D. What grabs your attention in the work? Refer to your first impression.
3. INTERPRET
Try to figure out what the artwork is about. Your own perspectives, associations and experiences meet with "the evidence" found in the work of art. All art works are about something. Some art works are about color, their subject matter, and social or cultural issues. Some art works are very accessible — that is, relatively easy for the viewer to understand what the artist was doing. Other works are highly intellectual, and might not be as easy for us to readily know what the artist was thinking about.
A. What is the theme or subject of the work? What mood or emotions does the artwork communicate?
B. What is the work about; what so you think it means?
C. Why do you think that artist created this work?
D. What do you think the artist's view of the world is?
4. EVALUATE
This is a culminating and reflecting activity. You need to come to some conclusions about the artwork based on all the information you have gathered and on your interpretations.
A. Have your thoughts or feelings about the artwork changed since your first impression? If so, how? What made you change your mind?
B. If not, can you now explain your first reaction to the work?
C. What have you seen or learned from this work that you might apply to your own art work or your own thinking?
