Who Needs Criticism? For Art Writing, Art Development, and the Art World

This article examines the local art world in Hong Kong as a sounding board to look at the state of art criticism. Drawing from Howard Becker’s sociological notion, the art world can be considered as a socio-economic network that defines, negotiates, and appropriates discourses of art. Art critics would be one of the agents mediating between producing and consuming art, and promoting a dynamic process of meaning-making that resonates with the wider public. By no means does the view reinstate the importance of art criticism, rather, it aims to examine some of the less than palatable forms of art writing in the local context. This article may draw criticism that Becker’s theory only addresses the “sociology of occupation applied to artistic work”, but gives little attention on the artwork per se or the internal logic of contemporary aesthetics (Becker 2008: xi). However, it is justified that Becker’s sociological notion broadens the scope of studying art not just as an event or object, but a meaning making system that operates within the profession and resonates in society. It is instrumental in considering the state of art criticism – a meaning-making process that works alongside with other art producers to reflect upon at the arts mean to society. In particular, this article argues that the paucity of local art criticism lies in the inability of local art infrastructures and this cultivates a popularist perception of art – one that is posh, individualistic and sentimental.