“Artistic Merit”
I’m afraid things are not going well between me and Alison Croggon.She is a critic, and as such she is deeply wedded to the parsing of “artistic merit.” Debate about the merits of one work or another is, after all, the meat and potatoes of a critics life.
I have offered my own excoriating criticism of various erotic (I use the term loosely) films, and I have no problem with the critical assessment of work. Not all artwork is equal, nor or all artists; and certainly not at all times. Changes in fashion and taste may, over time, lift some artists from obscurity or derision. Others who had been ascendant may drift into oblivion. Everyone knows the name Mozart. Salieri is a footnote.
Where Alison and I disagree vehemently is on whether or not “artistic merit” has any place in place in the law, any place deciding whether or not a work may be banned, or whether or not an artist may be imprisoned.
From her comments on her post Reality: What a Concept:
Aside from the legal question, the significant question in this particular case, I defend the concept of “artistic merit” because I believe there is such a thing. Otherwise why would I bother writing thousands of words on this blog attempting to discuss precisely this idea?
I’m afraid there may be no bridging this gap. My response:
“Artistic merit” serves you, and the people you know. Is it beyond your imagination that that this concept, when enshrined into law, cuts people off at the knees. It denies people’s work a venue, denies people a livelihood, threatens their liberty, and stifles expressive freedom.
You believe in, defend, and invoke “artistic merit” as an operating principle in the law because you’ve never had “artistic merit” used against you, and I’d guess you can’t imagine it ever will be.
I certainly never imagined it would happen to me.
Merriam-Webster defines empathy as:
The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this
I don’t know if empathy is a necessary component of art-making, but I have always regarded empathy as a necessary component of my art-making; and I am trying to feel empathy to Alison’s point of view, or if not that, at least towards to her. So far I have not been especially successful — mostly what I feel is angry at her and contemptuous of her position. I can hardly expect Alison to feel empathy for me when right now I feel little or none for her.
