Fresh off an opening weekend at the opera, I have been scouring the local media for coverage and reviews of our performance. While I myself am pleased and proud of the show that went up on Friday, I cannot help but feel the need for that validation given out by the oracles of art: the critics. But this is all wrong! Critics don’t write for the artists or administrators; they write for the public who seek the advice and opinions of a learned taste-maker. Or do they? The role of the art critic has become so vague that many are left to question not only who reads the reviews, but why they read them?
Let’s begin by thinking about who used to read the reviews. The answer is simple: everyone, with the exception of the proud few who “don’t read the reviews”. The critic as cultural aficionado was respected for their informed opinion, and received nearly endless buy-in from their readers. A good review spurred ticket sales; a bad review meant a catastrophe at the box office. There’s no telling when this golden age ended, but it surely has.
Fast forward to present day. Do any of us form our opinions or tastes based on the recommendations of some distant and allegedly qualified expert? That very notion flies in the face of the predominant individualist movement. We all prefer to make up our own minds, or at most, consult a trusted friend or colleague. Perhaps this is the result of generations of over-parenting, or the notion that anyone’s opinion can be bought. Whatever the case, arts criticism, at least in the formalized, printed version, finds itself in the previously foreign land of obscurity. More and more media outlets are firing their arts commentators or relegating them to a 3-in column above the funnies. So what, if anything, is to be done? I feel like I do too much pontificating on this blog, so rather than suggesting another ‘best practice’, I say this: Critics of art and music provide vital feedback for artists, they engage the audience in a dialogue about the art, and most importantly and counter-intuitively, they help us to form our own opinions. 
Filed under: All Arts Disciplines, Erik Johnson, Performance
