Critical Criticism with Tara Heffernan

Brought to you by the SSAF

WHEN: Tuesday 24 March, 1-3PM
WHERE: Arts Lab, Level 1, Arts and Cultural Building, Monash Road, Building 159 (MAP), next to the George Paton Gallery. 
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The perfect storm of middle–brow complacency, edu–tainment and anti–intellectualism has diluted art criticism, neutralising the antagonisms and novelties that forged the discipline. How did we get here and what can be done? As the fog of the 2010s dissipates, incontrovertible evidence of a growing frustration with limp writing has surfaced.

This workshop will begin with an introduction to the state of art writing/criticism as it intersects with the lineages of New Journalism and the dubious promise of aesthetic democracy. Together, we will discuss crucial examples of “critical” criticism from Robert Hughes, Dave Hickey and Catherine Liu, examine the rise of faux-critical criticism today. and consider methods of harnessing negative responses to art while avoiding the trap of smug cruelty. Participants are encouraged to bring short excerpts from work they deem compelling. 

Tara Heffernan is an art historian and cultural critic.