J.E. Sawyer on Art and Appreciation

Fallout: New Vegas’ lead designer and project director J.E. Sawyer has taken some time to write a blog post on “art and appreciation”, which, while not directly related to our usual scope of coverage, certainly offers some insight, especially when considering certain recent controversies. Here’s an excerpt:

We often use art and the authority of the artist (or the author, or the director, etc.) as an abstract shield to justify choices we make contrary to the desires of an audience. We make a choice, an audience complains, and sometimes — all too often — we say, “Sorry, but art.” This is unproductive deflection. This is an absurd, conversation-ending non-argument. It is presented as a wall that no criticism can breach. How is the critic intended to respond?

Someone doesn’t like how you portrayed a character. Someone doesn’t like how you ended a story. Someone doesn’t like how you framed your shots. “Art” as defense is not a repudiation of criticism, it is a hollow rejection of criticism. It does not encourage dialogue, it does not promote introspection, and it does not (typically) ameliorate the audience’s displeasure. At its worst, such a defense encourages non-topical arguments about the nature of art itself. These discussions, in which no parties are ever victorious, quickly spiral so far away from the actual point of criticism that they often never return.

When I see this, I ask myself: is this how authors and audiences should interact? I don’t think so. I think both the author and the audience deserve, and can benefit, more from honest appraisals of why we make the choices we makes. Stop talking about “art”. Stop talking about “entitlement”. How does casting blame elevate and advance conversation about the work? This is about questioning our work, our choices, our relationship (or lack thereof) with the audience.

Ultimately, our works are our answers to those questions. Implicitly, what we give to our audience is indicative of our values. Everything that follows — the sales, the reviews, the debates, the revisions, the re-releases — should be viewed as tools for the authors and audience to reinforce or recalibrate those values for future work. Unless an author plans on quitting creative endeavors after the next project he or she completes, this process is something all of us will go through for life.

Thanks RPG Codex.