Through seminars with critics, gallery visits, and writing exercises, this course considers the forces hanging the field of art criticism: increasingly diverse perspectives, a speculative art market, and a turbo- harged attention economy.

How can art critics continue to advocate for the importance of art in a seemingly dystopian era marked by shortened attention spans, algorithm-driven media, and consumer-driven culture? This course will take up this challenging question, by exploring the utopian impulse inherent in contemporary art criticism—namely the position that art, despite the overwhelming power of corporate pop culture and social media, can hold a significant place in society.

Slow reading and thoughtful criticism are essential for defending art’s intrinsic value, and its role in “the good life.” Through reading, discussion, lectures, and interactive writing exercises, this course will familiarize participants with the crucial role that art critics play in this process. We will begin by developing a theoretical framework for understanding this role of art criticism, in relation to the concept of utopia, as described in theory and philosophy. To this effect, students will engage selected readings from Utopia (1516) by Thomas More and The Principle of Hope (1954–1959) by Ernst Bloch.

Following these seminar discussions and presentations from Berlin-based art critics, students will be better prepared to study art criticism’s role in society and participate in it meaningfully; Visits to galleries will offer firsthand insights into criticism as a progressive cultural force. By the course’s end, students will have developed practical and theoretical skills to engage meaningfully with art criticism, whether as informed readers or emerging critics, navigating the contemporary art world with a critical lens.
 

Kate Brown is Senior Editor at Artnet News and host of The Art Angle podcast, where she frequently interviews artists and writers. Since 2018, her writing has chronicled dramatic shifts in contemporary art through social media and shifts in politics.

Mitch Speed is an art critic and author. Since 2010, he has written art criticism for magazines including Frieze, Camera Austria, Spike, Momus, and Mousse, from North America and Europe. In 2019, Afterall Books published his book-length study of Mark Leckey’s canonical video artwork Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999).

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More information: Berlin Winter University