The Easel

The Critic as Artist

Here’s a surprise – “it is the sacred duty of the critic to be wrong”. AO Scott is a noted film critic but his observation is applicable to art in all its forms. Art is a conversation. Critics are important because they help describe – and shape – what that conversation is. The cardinal sin of a critic is thus to not have an opinion – “A critic needs to take a side or we’ll never get anywhere”