I had an arts experience this weekend that forced me to be honest in a tough way.
I went and saw a local show on Friday night. I was less than impressed with what I saw, and when asked about my experience by one of the producers, I was more than honest about my thoughts on what I had seen.
I'm not a critic, and I have never purported to be an authority on anything, but I felt I had an obligation to be frank with a fellow artist. For me, that was a tough thing to do (I'm a nice guy, honest), but I have been pretty disenchanted with some of the art going on around town and I decided it's time to call a spade a spade when I see it.
My frank evaluation of what I saw was not intended to diminish the work of the artists who had created it. But, it was frank. Really frank. I did, however, hope it would force them to dig in deeper and come up with work that more accurately represents the talents that they possess. In other words, I came to praise Caesar, not to bury him to horribly invoke The Bard.
What do you think about brutal candor that is offered in hopes of making art better? Does it just reek of self importance by the giver, or is it the only thing that artists should really be doing to help support their fellow compatriots in the cause? How do you handle telling your artist pals that their work doesn't live up to the dream of what you know they can achieve?
Or is lying and saying, "It was good," just the way of the world?
3 smart alecky remarks:
I appreciate the fact that you are being frank with your artsy pals. It is hard when a friend gives you that kind of honesty but if given and taken in the right spirit can really help the actor grow. Don't get me wrong, I love to have my ego stroked and love getting praise whenever I step out on stage. But I also know that to get bigger and better roles, I have to improve. False compliments don't help in that regard.
This is similar to the current trend to overuse the standing ovation. Just because a friend or relative is on stage, doesn't mean that you have to give them a standing "O". It should be reserved for a performance that is deserving of the honor. We recently went to the performance of a jazz sax player at the racine zoo and were amazed to see several members of the audience stand after nearly every song.
I always love to see actors whose work I love (often from working with them or seeing them in something I wrote and making words into living stories) no matter how much I might admire or not admire the work they are in. Seeing people making a bad script work is a joy. Forget "frank" criticism. Best way to make art better is to make better art yourself.
Artsy- you know i love the frank criticism, giving or receiving it.
m j m- but, how are we (or, actually, how are your friends, since you've boycotted my work) to know whether or not our art is better if the only feedback we get is bland friendly accolades?
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