The New York Times recently restructured its arts desk, resulting in critics of various art forms being reassigned. Culture editor Sia Michel stated this change aims to expand cultural coverage beyond traditional reviews. Critics express concern that this shift indicates a diminishing focus on written reviews, which are essential in arts journalism. While diversifying content formats is valuable, maintaining written reviews as a core practice is crucial for the future of art criticism. Reviews serve as a consumer guide and provide a unique perspective for both critics and audiences alike.
Reviews are rooted in the most fundamental unit of the art business—the personal encounter with individual works... Critics are simultaneously consumers and avatars of consumers.
Michel's desire for a variety of formats, including video, is well-founded but one-sided; the practice of criticism should be as wide-ranging as possible and constantly growing.
Criticism shouldn't lose its center, which is the written review. Reviews, far from being conservative, are the most inherently progressive mode of arts writing.
The specificity of the review is both aesthetic and social; it's a consumer guide, an intrinsic variety of service journalism.
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