One was in the February 24 Washington Post Classical Beat blog. Anne Midgette makes a plea for critics to connect to others idea when publishing on line. This is a great idea - and its value to all of us comes into focus when she writes about how
A new work, in particular, is in the position of the blind men and the elephant: everyone who was there can give his or her own piece of the experience, and readers, seeing them all together, can try to amalgamate them into a larger, and more accurate, picture.Critics' varying descriptions and assessments can offer readers a multi-dimensional view of a work. And I need that when I read...as I can't get away to see anything these days.
The other thing I wanted to link to is The Guardian UK Theatre Blog, which had an exhortation for artists to write more about their work. Not more self promotional bloggiy crap, but
a messier kind of writing, more vulnerable and yet more declamatory. Writing that is the product of a desire to speak as well as an obligation to communicate. A more restless kind of writing, devoid of neatness, riddled with ambiguities and rhetorical flourishes. Writing that expresses the same wants and preoccupations as that artist's other creative output, without needing to comment on that work. Writing suffused with generosity and fragility. The page as a canvas or a stage, as well as space for programme notes.I have been teaching writing in art schools for a while, and I welcome this idea wholeheartedly. Writing is not something one does merely to promote oneself - it's something that can explain one's self to one's self. It is the mind at work... and that's a pretty exciting thing to read (whereas boring, jargon-laced, self-promoting 'artists' statements' are not...)
More soon. Really. I want to write about this book club I'm in and the book How Learning Works: Seven Research Based Principles for Smart Teaching. It's been interesting to think about learning instead of teaching...
