sarma

This "poetics" on Hassiotis' critical writing was commissioned by Sarma and published on the occasion of the first Unfolding the Critical colloquium in March 2003.

Part of becoming a (good) critic, first and foremost is to have a clear idea about the challenges and hardships of the profession, as this will settle any existential conflicts which may arise in the course of the years to come. Then, independence via relative detachment and distance from the artists’ lives, may enable a rational management of power for both sides. Being a critic may be a very hard profession as writing, reviews or other texts, may vary from a fulfilling to a torturing process: words are 'escaping’, meaning is evasive and, worse than that, the outcome of the 'battle’ with words has to be communicated and shared with an audience, the readers.

Changing style, throwing away material, discarding any idea of controlling one’s own writings have been all very useful to me. A critic can only write about parts of the work, with some objective (sic) description of props, lights, sets, costumes, names, titles and movement patterns, on the side. I often feel that I can only communicate glimpses of 'reality’ through description and interpretation, (a sound and rational method), while the text follows its own course. The writer/critic may acknowledge this frustrating and exhilarating fact either while still in the process of writing, immediately afterwards, and often, a long time after it has been completed.

The most difficult part is for the artists – as audience/readers – to accept that the text does not 'belong’ to them, even if it refers to them, as it follows similar – not identical – mechanisms as their choreography. For me, it is of vital importance to be impartial and develop a ('pop-up’) mechanism of discerning – the true nature – of my personal likes and dislikes. I also firmly believe that a critic should have a 'flair’ for subversion and provocation, filled with superior distaste for moralism and any notion of conformism in art. In my point of view, it is again of vital importance to be able to discern talent, potential, and a new current coming up.

Probably one of the most important issues, and a subject of debate, is how mercilessly should over-ambitious artistic mediocrity (aka 'o.-a.a.m.’) be treated, once 'diagnosed’ as such; the question combines issues on ethics, power and the myth encompassing the artist. (Preferable group of o.-a.a.m. those who take themselves and their art too seriously, to the point of eccentricity).