Mod 15 Video Review

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The video Greenberg on Pollock taught me that Pollock wanted to paint movable pictures that would move between the easel and the mural; something that was new to the time.  Pollock began focusing on moving toward the edges and corners of the canvas rather than just focusing on the middle.  Beginning with this, Pollock began to move away from the concepts of containment and order.  Greenberg believes that some of Pollock’s paintings failed because they failed to appeal to the eye.  He believes that the only demand on art is for it to be good.   Contemporaries and the public never saw Pollock’s works as paintings, but more of a step in between.  This made him notorious rather than famous.

The video Greenberg on Art Criticism taught me that Greenberg believes that abstract art has been the best kind of art over the last few decades.  He believes that this was spurred by a huge “culture boo” that occurred after WWII.  Greenberg also believes that there’s a crisis of taste amongst people, and has been since Van Gogh.  Greenberg believes that good art critics, like the ones of the past, simply know value when they see it and have good intuition and judgment; an eye for aesthetics.  Greenberg thinks that one, individual artist proves themselves in a movement, but a whole, global movement does not prove itself.          

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

Both videos relate to the creation of my Art Criticism project because both are interviews featuring an art critic.  Greenberg delves into what his beliefs are about art criticism in both videos.  He repeatedly references the importance of aesthetics, and that the only demand on art is for it to be good and aesthetically pleasing.  Both videos help me to understand Greenberg’s own philosophies regarding criticism and allow me to see how he conducted his reviews.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?

I believe that these films added depth to my understanding of art criticism because they reinforced my idea that criticism sometimes has to rely on intuition.  Criticism needs to look at if the work is aesthetically pleasing and forget all of the political ideals behind it.