I'll Be the Judge of That

From time to time, I'll hear an earnest soul praise the Critical Response Process as a "nonjudgmental" way to give feedback.

This always gets my hackles up, for reasons I'll explain in a minute ... but I suppose I should try to pose a neutral question in response to this kind of declaration. Something like: "'Nonjudgmental' is an interesting word. Can you say more about that? Tell me what you mean."

I'm going to guess that what they mean is that the artist getting the feedback does not feel personally judged as an individual, or that some standard remote from the artist's own intentions is not being used to measure a work-in-progress. And those two points are generally true enough: The Critical Response Process offers some great ways to keep the focus on the specific work in question and to engage artists themselves in setting some of the terms for how their work is reviewed.

But "nonjudgmental" as a blanket characterization of the Process is troublesome to me. May I rant for a second?

When did the idea of judging get a bad rap? At what point in our politically-correct, psychobabbling, I'm-okay-you're-okay epoch did it become a bad thing to be making judgments? So in response to the "nonjudgmental" label, I'd like to say: On the contrary. As we use CRP we will be making some judgments. An artist bringing work forward for discussion using the Process should be ready for some judgments about that work -- from others and from themselves. Moreover, judgment is a natural component of the artmaking process. Artists are constantly making choices, weighing options, saying "This isn't working, let's try that." Even what appear to be the most impulsive, intuitive, improvisational, "inspired" artistic gestures involve judgment. (Imagine Ella Fitzgerald scatting on "How High the Moon" or Jackson Pollock in his action-dance across the canvas.) It's simply judgment that is so ingrained, so integrated that it doesn't appear to entail the deliberation that we associate with the idea of judging.

It's all judgment and -- forgive me for my own spasm of earnestness -- it's all good.

What is perhaps distinctive about the Critical Response Process is that it isn't just the artist's work that is subject to judgment. Opinions offered in response to art also come under scrutiny, and those who react strongly are required to subject their opinions to a process of judgment: turning them into neutral questions, weighing their value in relation to the artist's response, and deferring to the artist's say as to whether those opinions may be expressed or not. There's even the possibility that an opinion might change in the course of the Process.

Everyone involved in a session of CRP might be subject to some judgment. Everyone, let's hope, will do some judging of their own thoughts, actions, and products. Everyone gets a chance to learn and change. How exciting!