tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post8962916225361245017..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Navel gazingAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-87707555704919230502009-12-13T23:45:50.181+11:002009-12-13T23:45:50.181+11:00Hi EP -
Interesting question. I guess I'm wri...Hi EP -<br /><br />Interesting question. I guess I'm writing for anybody who might be interested.<br /><br />The other stuff I write that I think of as "public", as directly addressing a readership, is genre novels (poetry is more complicated - of course it's written for a reader, but it's more what Celan called "a message in a bottle" that you hope shifts up on a Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-82057688231728316472009-12-13T18:26:28.960+11:002009-12-13T18:26:28.960+11:00Given that criticism is for an audience, I'd b...Given that criticism is for an audience, I'd be interested to know who you think your audience is, who you <i>wish</i> your audience was, and who you're writing for when you pen a critique (if it's not too much to ask!).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-12719360915597148162009-12-11T10:48:00.687+11:002009-12-11T10:48:00.687+11:00I never forgot the Sydney critic from a gay newspa...I never forgot the Sydney critic from a gay newspaper saying "I belonged in the local Criterion Hotel eating a feed of sausages and mash." Peter Houghton needs to be "strong and positive" for his work. I was always keen (never anxious) to read Helen Thomson's opinion. Respect, I think. I like critics. Sometimes ignorant, but nevertheless always welcome. Cliff Ellen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-357909431049273322009-12-11T10:07:14.834+11:002009-12-11T10:07:14.834+11:00I was so not dissing the Divine Herr, Mr Hunka! I ...I was so not dissing the Divine Herr, Mr Hunka! I was just rushing out to some meetings and so had no time to do more than send a friendly wave. To expand any of his ideas requires more than a hurried sentence. Anyway, yyou know how I feel about the commodification of culture.<br /><br />As for criticism, I was speaking from a position of pure egocentricity, about those items that have pertained Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-79815994001469247222009-12-11T08:49:47.835+11:002009-12-11T08:49:47.835+11:00Just a little. Iced tea always helps.Just a little. Iced tea always helps.George Hunkahttp://www.georgehunka.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-68721079684661299672009-12-11T08:34:17.233+11:002009-12-11T08:34:17.233+11:00If enlightenment produces anti-enlightenment, and ...If enlightenment produces anti-enlightenment, and myth calcifies into new and ever more shadowy and opprobrious forms of myth, then trouble is hardly the word - hell perhaps? <br /><br />I reckon this place might be resemble the Inferno just a little?David Mencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10119238587265066698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-71280802172596704862009-12-11T05:01:33.382+11:002009-12-11T05:01:33.382+11:00Indeed -- but without paying attention to the broa...Indeed -- but without paying attention to the broader critical community, how do you find those most perceptive critics? Can one read criticism without noticing it, I wonder? And -- in this case -- the question about whom the critic is addressing answers itself: the readership, the audience, not the artist. In which case it's hard to see how the consumer guide won't win out in the end, George Hunkahttp://www.georgehunka.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-43422325064793552142009-12-10T16:50:28.031+11:002009-12-10T16:50:28.031+11:00I didn't mean, actually, that one should ignor...I didn't mean, actually, that one should ignore criticism. I think a self-critical practice is crucial. <br /><br />But anybody who measures their worth and achievement through reviews needs to go get another job. Reviews most of the time simply assess how much you fit into a culture, not what you're actually aiming to do. I usually, quite honestly, forget them.<br /><br />For my part, I Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-6703106766113470862009-12-10T15:11:08.603+11:002009-12-10T15:11:08.603+11:00Or to put it another way: "Screw you clowns! ...Or to put it another way: "Screw you clowns! I'm leaving you clowns to join all the other clowns in the clowning business!" - Homer SimpsonTimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-16846447525935827242009-12-10T15:09:57.601+11:002009-12-10T15:09:57.601+11:00That Sagan sure had some cheek suggesting that Boz...That Sagan sure had some cheek suggesting that Bozo the Clown wasn't a genius!TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-47560235923404032612009-12-10T13:51:36.174+11:002009-12-10T13:51:36.174+11:00Yes, the danger is insularity- seeking only the op...Yes, the danger is insularity- seeking only the opinions of the like-minded.<br />I'm troubled by Houghton's assertion that artists should be "strong and positive"; up to a point, but much comes out of leaning into vulnerabilities, pressing hard on areas of discomfort and weakness.<br />There are natural cycles of restoration and decline, absorption and secretion- the creative Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-59171108800761352442009-12-10T12:09:58.746+11:002009-12-10T12:09:58.746+11:00Not paying attention to reviews is odd. Ignoring t...Not paying attention to reviews is odd. Ignoring the thoughts of those you don't respect isn't bad practice, but to have a blanket policy applying this to all criticism seems self-destructive to me. How else do you grow as an artist if you don't engage with any audience but the one who loves your work? It's ok to say this critic - or punter - is on a different page, or doesn'tBorn Dancin'https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526760383290674186noreply@blogger.com