Criticism and meta-criticism. The starting point for discussion

As Mieczysław Porębski said, art criticism fulfills the function of “second degree”, so apart from the fact that the critic “sees, hears and reads”, he / she also “causes people to be seen, read, listened to”. But there is also the third step – because it is not enough to make someone take such action in relation to art – someone has to make others take it as well. Criticism not only serves the individual recipient, but also has social goals. Art criticism introduces and disseminates meanings in social discourse. It makes you think – critically of the propaganda of the authorities, which then becomes powerless.

Mieczyslaw Porębski (1921-2012), an art historian who in his practice closely combined scholarly research with criticism in such a way that one practice supported the other and both resulted from each other. In his writing, he based his methodological assumptions on poststructuralism and Roland Barthes. He was associated with Krakow, the Jagiellonian University and the Krakow Group (Krzysztofory Gallery and Tadeusz Kantor).

Proposed by Łukasz Guzek