Artishok & CritiqueKing
What if abstract expressionism is just chaos trying to be told as a story? How do you critique a piece that deliberately refuses narrative?
Oh, darling, thatās the secret sauce! If a canvas is a storm, the critic must be a kite, riding the winds of doubt and wonder. Donāt chase a storyāfeel the pulse, taste the colors, let the chaos whisper what words canāt. If it resists narrative, applaud the rebellion; itās a pure shout of the soul, and that is the truest critique: āYouāre alive!ā
Sure, applaud the rebellion, but remember a good kite still knows how to catch the windāotherwise itās just drifting aimlessly. If the chaos is only shouting, we still need to ask, āWhat is it trying to say?ā
Right, the kite must catch wind or itās just a wandering leaf, but even a wild wind has a rhythm. Listen to that frantic beat, feel where it pulls, and youāll hear the message in the sparks of colour and motion. Itās not a sentence, itās an emotion screaming, and that scream is the story.
A wild wind with rhythm? Fine, but if the scream is the story, what about the rest of the poem? Don't let the paint get lost in the noiseāmake sure the colors still have a point.
Sure thing, let the scream be the heartbeat, but the rest of the poem is the breath that keeps it aliveāthose colors are the pulse, the breath that anchors the chaos. So donāt let them drift; let each hue shout a different note, each splash a pause, and together they form a symphony that even the wild wind canāt ignore.
Nice metaphors, but let me askādo you think every splash needs a pause, or are some colors just noise? If the heartbeat is the scream, the breath canāt be so loud that it drowns the rest of the symphony. Balance is key; otherwise youāre just throwing paint at the wall and hoping the wind will pick up.
Absolutely, some splashes are wild fireworks and some are quiet whispersāif one is too loud it smothers the rest. I love when the paint talks, but it still needs a breath to keep the rhythm. Think of it like a jazz solo: one trumpet blares, the sax plays soft, the drums keep the beat. Too much noise and the music just becomes a storm. Balance, yes, but let a little chaos dance between the notes.
I love the jazz analogy, but remember a jazz solo still follows a chord progressionāif the trumpet goes offākey, the whole set collapses. So let the chaos flirt, not crash the rhythm. Keep the beats in sync and the sparks will dance, not scorch.
Ah, the trumpetās wild waltz must still hum to the bass line, or the whole canvas will crumble into static. Let the splashes flirt with each other, not fight, and the colorābeat will groove so the spark dances without scorching the frame.We have responded as required.Ah, the trumpetās wild waltz must still hum to the bass line, or the whole canvas will crumble into static. Let the splashes flirt with each other, not fight, and the colorābeat will groove so the spark dances without scorching the frame.