mattermorphosis

"The immersive, sustained nature of these practices (many of which unfold over weeks, months, or even years) imposes different demands on the critic: a different sense of rhythm and duration in your relationship to the artist. I can’t simply visit a museum or biennial and view a given sculpture or installation. I need to spend some time with the artist, ideally in the site of the actual project, talking to other participants and trying to gain a sense of its gestalt. Jay Koh and ChuYuan’s work in Myanmar, for example, has been going on for nearly seven years, and its meaning is produced through the gradual accretion ofsocial exchanges, events, and interactions within and among a network of Burmese artists and writers. A deeper involvement in the practice leads to a closer rapport with the practitioner. This can be equally true for historians or critics who write about more traditional practices, like painting and sculpture. At the same time, I don’t plan to write about the same group of artists indefinitely. It’s always necessary to maintain the relative autonomy of your ideas about the work. I’d also have to say that most of the artists and groups that I’ve written about have been very conscious of this, and I’ve never experienced a sense of resentment for the criticisms I’ve made."

Grant Kester, Autonomy, Agonism, and Activist Art: An Interview