How Do You Review The Arts?

How do you review the arts? Well I guess one of the first steps to reviewing the arts is to look at the arts in a greater picture. What are the arts? In what sense does art exist, and what or how is art portrayed or perceived? Is art something in physical form that has been created right in front of you, such as a painting? Or can art be in theory, or perception as in the thought or ideals of what can be art? What is seen as art, and what is experienced as art. It’s clearly in the eye of the beholder. I will look at art and consider many different things as art, that many other people won’t. Yet given these greater ideas and views of art, a reviewer can complete a much more thorough, and interesting review for the reader. They might even be able to expand into territory that might not usually be expected of a review.

So you have to ask yourself what is art? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines art as, “1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. 2. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. 3. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value. I think that these are some pretty good definitions of art, and could help in ones idea of how to review art. However I don’t know if there can be a solid definition of art, which also means that there isn’t really a solid way of reviewing the arts. Art can be created or art can be found and captured, then put on display. But is it only considered art when it is displayed? Just as Lippard discusses the notation of art and place, I think that the notation of art and place has an extreme amount of connection and presence within how art can be perceived. Art can be in a place or art can be the place itself. What a concept, its all in the perception of the viewer, and the given direction of the creator.

To review the arts there are many things to keep in mind, because in a review of the arts there are many things that are expected of the review to posses. The review ultimately becomes the reviewer’s perception of the art that had been experienced. Yet the review needs to be written in a way to inform an outside source of what is to be expected when attending the alleged form of the arts. For this aspect the reviewer needs to consider all that I had speculated above into their own perception. Then form an educated and consistently flowing base of knowledge to structure their review off of. You also really need to, no pun intended, paint a picture for the reader so they are able to get a sense of the experience you had. This is necessary for them to judge how they might react to this similar experience given their own perspectives. Oh and of course especially given the demands of our class you better have good grammar in your review.