Criticlasym: On Criticism In Response To A Criticism Of Our Criticism Of Up The Creek

I’ve wanted to write about the value of criticism for ages but, I’ll admit, there was a pretty rough period there where I was feeling extremely sensitive about my work and didn’t want to rock the boat. Ironic, considering what I would have been arguing for and what I want to say here now. In particular I’m actually going to respond to a criticism of something I wrote, which complained about my criticism, by discussing why I think criticism is so important. So in a way I’m backing my own critics. But I have to ask: is it ok to criticize you now?

In a recent post on the site, I explored the problem with flyer design for the Up The Creek music festival. I noted that the lineup for the festival was looking strong but that the flyers undersold what sounded like it would be an otherwise strong event. I said this while admitting that I’d never attended Up The Creek. In my mind this is an example of praising something in spite of its failings but still providing some insight into what works and what doesn’t. It’s an engineer’s approach to opinion, I’ll admit, looking for the stuff that works to determine what might be broken.

It’s also the essence of criticism as I see it: the recognition that everything that’s good also has flaws. Every song, every event, every film. And you can see that flaw either as damning or as an opportunity. After all, knowing where you went wrong can help you figure out how to fix that same problem next time you do something. It’s how we build repair manuals for technicians for gods’ sake. And if Up The Creek did right by its lineup and organization, it could certainly stand to do a better job with its flyers next year, so it could draw even more positive attention to what it was doing.

One reader was very upset about this, and told me so on Facebook.

“Seriously dude, what a load of bollocks you just wrote there to attract cheap attention, you should feel like a chop haha if you haven’t been to up the creek, you are not a true music supporter and have no reason to write festival reviews”

There’s a lot to take in there, I know, but I’d like you to put aside the fact that a (likely new) reader suggested I might be writing something on this website I own and operate to draw “cheap attention” because, well, I own and operate this website. What I’m more drawn to is the second part of his argument, which suggests that if I haven’t attended Up The Creek specifically, I am not a “true music supporter” and that I have no reason to write festival reviews. Not that I did.  I know all the supportive marketing by other writers online can often confuse the issue, but a review usually comes after an event. All that stuff you read before that says it’s gonna be awesome is just someone playing the role of a hype man for a circus act you happen to be passing on your way to buy cotton candy. It’s gotten so bad that I actually imagine some people who run blogs own canes and straw hats that they twirl while they write. And yes, that is my second carnival reference in three feature-length posts.

What I wrote wasn’t a festival review. It was a discussion of one festival’s marketing so I’ll retain my press credentials, thankee ver’ much. But as someone who runs a website that does its best to disseminate new music from around the world (but mostly Europe, Australia, the US and South Africa) to its readers, I like to think of myself as a pretty big supporter of music. But that’s like saying I like breathing. The only people who don’t like music are serial killers. Those guys are fucking nuts after all.

But even then, I take issue with the term “music supporter”. Music (i.e. every collection of sounds used to create a melody, even a discordant one) isn’t a sports team or a Formula 1 driver. This isn’t Nascar, during which my loyalty to one driver or team somehow overrides my reasonable human instinct to celebrate the people I see as superior competitors. Taking part is about attaining some kind of personal victory. That’s what’s always made discussing music or movies or politics or sports so much more interesting than just watching it. There’s personal growth in actually considering things, where they go right and where they go wrong, and accepting that they’re capable of both. Just blindly supporting “music” as thousands of artists go through incredible growth and change, sometimes getting better, sometimes worse. Look, it’s a nice thought but ultimately just being a supporter sounds boring and, to me at least, lacks any sense of personal investment, achievement or growth in what I’m apparently supporting.

But I concede that if that’s the case I guess supporting music must feel like quite the achievement to some because it’s something – a thing - that has just grown so considerably, in so many different ways, since the first caveperson beat the first rock that… well, good job by proxy, music supporters.

But this isn’t just about music or events or Up The Creek. It’s about criticism and why people seem to struggle with it.

A critique is an examination of our shared understanding of broader cultural narratives that exist in the world around us, and what implications our shared beliefs might have for the world around us. It’s when you look at something like a single flyer and see how it fits into a larger framework of other flyers that exist, then consider what its existence might suggest about flyers in general. We’re all capable of doing this but, admittedly, I run into more people who don’t do this actively than those who do. We do this for a variety of reasons but fundamentally it’s because we want to see things in the world we live in get better with time.

Of course, for many people, criticism is just “hating”. They can hear an entire discussion that acknowledges how complex a person, people or situation might be, but to them they’re stuck on the part where you said “but what if you’re wrong?” I understand this impetus. I mean, I’m literally writing a critical response to a criticism of my criticism so I like to think I have a pretty good handle on how acute sensitivity can get the brain roaring into an argument. For me though, arguments and criticism aren’t necessarily tools used to hate on people. If anything, they can be powerful acts of support. I’ve taken time out of my day to construct an argument based on a mediocre piece of marketing material and, in a sense, I’ve provided Up The Creek with going on two posts’ worth of what that savant Facebook critic referred to as “cheap attention”. For a festival sponsored by freakin’ Jagermeister! It don’t get much cheaper than free, son.

If anything, there are now a few thousand more people who read Another-Day who are suffering through unfortunate further exposure to the flyer above and might now have heard of Up The Creek for the first time. And hey, if you like Bye Beneco as much as I do, you’re now aware they’re playing the Swellendam this year so consider making a turn to soak up the riverside jams, Jager and bad design. I’m pretty sure the guy who got me off on this tangent in the first place was so irate about my original takedown of the flyer that he’s gone and bought two tickets so, heck, praise be the supporter.

I’ll admit that there is a selfish aspect to criticism though. From way back since that first caveman laid down that first epic drum solo, communication has been about creating understanding between organisms. When I write about something it’s partly so you’ll begin to have a greater understanding of who I am. You’ll start to think about all the stuff I think that you agree with, and the stuff you’re not down with too. When I write something about how I think a particular piece of music is crap, it’s not just to tell you that it’s objectively crap (it’s not), it’s to tell you that I think it’s crap. That I think it could be better.

I’m not a design supporter or a music supporter. I’m a fan of good music. The music I think is good. It’s my opinion.

Criticism isn’t meant to detract from someone’s personal sense of achievement. It isn’t meant to tell someone that they’re bad at what they do. It is meant to point out that there are aspects of what they do that aren’t up to the standards of everything else they achieve. It’s about deconstructing something’s failings as a means of highlighting how to improve on them. Telling you did a good job is just as vital, but ultimately only has value if I can tell the difference between what’s good and what’s bad. You’ll be able to tell from what I say whether you should take my considerations with a pinch of salt or not.

It’s an admission that I believe fundamentally we can always do better. I can do better. You can do better. Everybody.

So to Up The Creek, I’d like to reiterate that you’ve done a good job on the lineup. Your flyers still suck though. Consider approaching a designer you know. You’re based in Cape Town. Everyone there is a designer (which may actually be part of the problem). Otherwise maybe get a photographer to take some nice shots of your venue? I’ll take that over smiley guy with sunglasses. I think it will do your event and your lineup of talented artists justice.

And to the guy who thinks I have no reason to write festival reviews. I hope you enjoy life spent accepting everything at its most mediocre. Good luck with that support role in the pit lane of life, champ.