How To Critique Yourself

One of my lovely longtime dance sisters and students, Kathy, sent me this in an e-mail recently, rightfully guessing I would enjoy its contents. In the bellydance world, being still truly a non-mainstream art (BDSS does not automatically bring all the trappings of "the mainstream"), we have very few tangible benchmarks for a successful work.  Meaning there aren't publicly recognized trade schools, public 'galleries', or professional critics built around our creative methods.  Aside from the opinions of friends and colleagues, who frankly will rarely tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we have little in the way of true critical review. I think for us, it becomes increasingly important for us to develop a critical eye toward our own work, so we are able to more reliably assess our growth and evolution as we create, separate of the surrounding voices (which may not be giving us the best guidance).  I hope you enjoy the article! And if you would like to learn more about the author, Robert Genn, visit his page at http://painterskeys.com

Organic Process: The Art of Seeing

All the way back in May, I was pondering the collision of modern media and the organic process of artistic creation. In that post I wrote:

"A sculpture or a painting--even a piece of music or a video--is not expected to change, and is appreciated for its unchanging beauty. It is it's solidity that is part of its appeal, in a way. We see the same piece over time, and instead of expecting it to change or adapt to us, our perspective adapts and changes. We see it (hear it, experience it) from different angles, in different lights, in a different environment, our attitudes change, our perceptions change; and we find that our appreciation deepens and becomes richer and more multi-faceted as we take the time to consider the piece from all these perspectives. The work to appreciate that art day-to-day is in our hands as the viewer."