Monday, March 21, 2011

Criticism....or constructive criticism?

In the reading I could relate to the author's view  about giving feedback on a piece. I usually don't like (and I don't think most people like) their work to be put on the spot for either criticism or praise. I say this because this is the case at least from what I have seen in my life and other's perspectives. I don't like the criticism because I would think that my work would be good, but then someone notices flaws. This hurts because I think I don't have what it take. But yet, in recent years, I have been able to see that criticism can be good and too much praise can be bad. The criticism that I have been able to receive on my work has often times helped me with overcoming the flaws that the work my have and fixing them so they can be more to what most people would understand or help with the story or the work presented. In the past I have seen praise as a form of not helping me further enhance my work. People would think something is perfect and would not voice their dislikes about it. I felt at times that they just didn't seem like the kind of person that would be able to frank about something like that because they are afraid that they would hurt my feelings about it. That can be true, but I actually prefer the honest constructive criticism over the not so honest praise. When I was doing the readings it made me think of this because I wouldn't feel like I would have to hold a grudge or stop talking to this person because they give constant negative feedback if they do it is for a good reason. I don't know why I feel like praise is not the total truth. I guess because we are all our own worst critic and we see the flaws or at least we think we see them than anyone else. When I personally give feedback I am not cruel with it either. I don't just point out all the flaws and I say them in the way that I would like to hear them without bashing on it to the point where it discourages the other person from even taking it. I think that too much praise can also be bad. I got to be honest, but at the same time be looking at the positive aspects of the work presented.

2 comments:

  1. Something that occurred to me as I was reading your post is that feedback can help us to make our art more accessible to people. What may make perfect sense to me, may not make sense to someone else and by hearing from outside sources, I can adjust things in order to convey my message to an audience, rather than selfishly clinging to my art as something only for myself.

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  2. it's nice to know that everyone has reservations about letting their work be seen. i think we all know it's useful, but we just tend to worry about getting shut down. i like our class because i would feel pretty comfortable letting anyone critique my stuff.

    one idea we talked about in class made me think about it in a new way as well; the fact that you aren't obligated to apply all the suggestions you get. maybe the criticism will just help you solidify your own vision of what you want, but you don't have to re-think the entire story in order to accomodate a critic. their input is valuable, but you have to be thoughtful about how to apply it.

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