Are all cultural critics just failed artists?
In the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you’ve been burning to know the answer to – and settle it, once and for all
John Cleese recently went on a tirade against critics, lambasting them as “ignorant”, “envious” and “untalented”. If you’re an arts critic, you’ve likely been the recipient of this age-old insult before. Read the comments section – that confidence-knocking hellscape we pretend to ignore but prong like a tongue on a wobbly tooth – and you may be greeted with worse. However, is there any truth in it? Are we a bunch of bitter, resentment-filled failures taking revenge on those we secretly envy?
It might be difficult to grasp that writing a magazine cover could appeal more than featuring on it, but for many it truly does. Sure, there might be adolescent periods when critics found themselves mimicking Leonard Cohen in their bedroom or painting wannabe Georgia O’Keeffes in the garage. Yet for many, the surge of adrenaline comes from time spent with art, not creating it. Plus, if you’ve ever joined bands on tour, you’ll know it’s mainly schlepping heavy gear around and asking people for wifi codes.
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However, if you’re besotted by an art form to the point you feel compelled to write about it for – let’s be honest – a meagre living, then it’s no earth-shattering revelation that some may share the same passion for creating that artists do. Mark Cousins, for example, happily coexists as a film director and critic.
The prominent art critic Jerry Saltz went to art school and dropped out – making him the archetypal failed artist as critic – yet his Pulitzer prize for criticism was likely not awarded due to his seething hatred and festering animosity towards those who’d made it. It was because of his commitment, knowledge, expertise and desire to further elevate art through written exploration and insight. Martin Scorsese sees the art in arts criticism to such a degree he has repeatedly hired critics to write his screenplays.
It is a common misconception that arts criticism is about tearing things apart. The work often errs on the positive side – pick up any magazine and you’ll find an abundance of four-star reviews – but part of the process of panning for gold is encountering disappointment. Ultimately that’s what this job is: a search for beautiful art and to better understand it. The aim is never to go in wanting to dislike: you approach with hope, not hate. That said, the skills required to write about beautiful art are the same required to unpick failures, which explains the satisfying allure of a brutal review.
It’s also not entirely one-way. The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde was working for NME – writing what she called “half-baked philosophical drivel and nonsensical tirades” – before she gave it up to form a band. Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys swapped writing about pop stars to become one. Even Marilyn Manson started off writing about music, although perhaps when he underwent his makeup and leather-clad transformation the title Failed Music Journalist didn’t quite have the same ring to it as “God of Fuck”.
So, are critics failed artists? Well, if you believe, as many of us do, that criticism is an art form in itself, then obviously it’s a no. If you believe otherwise, I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you in the comments section soon.
