Comparative Art Criticism
What is reasonable to expect from art writers when freed by the expansive pages of the art journal, or constrained by the column inches of art journalism? What are we reading when name dropping and intellectual references predominate, or when instead the focus is brought to the experience of looking (at the expense of wider contexts?) Case Study 1: Hal Foster (Artforum 2020), approx. 4,400 words and Robert Hughes (Time magazine 1987), approx. 1,600 words. Hal Foster on Rachel Harrison: Warhol/ Hesse/ Serra/ Bataille/ Kristeva/ Smithson/ THOMAS PYNCHON/ JG Ballard/ Cronenburg/ Oldenburg/ Isa Genzken/ Thomas Hirschorn/ John Miller/ Ernest Jones/ Anna Chave/ Dan Flavin/ Rube Goldberg/ Frederic Jameson/ (Richard) Prince/ Salle/ Picabia/ Ernest Mandel/ Ernst/ Mike Kelley/ (Cady) Noland/ Haim Steinbach/ Koons/ Lars Von Trier/ Brecht/ Barthes/ Carl Andre/ Emin/ Hugo Ball/ (Karl) Marx/ George Saunders/ Ben Marcus/ Fred Sandbeck/ Hans Haacke/ Michael Asher/ Louise Lawler/ Rauschenberg/ Mignon