3 Comments

1. 

   Christopher Robbins on February 7, 2008 at 9:07 am

   Please don’t use the word “problematize” or any of its derivatives anymore. It leads to non-statements, because you end up merely saying that there is a problem, rather than saying what the problem is.

2. 

   duncan. on February 7, 2008 at 12:24 pm

   Christopher,

   Your arguing, that we should just say “muddy the waters of…” or something like that when we intend to say something smart without actually saying any thing of substantive value?

   How then, Sir, are we too squeeze any value whatsoever out of our graduate degrees? I believe mine says that intellectual bullying is in fact part of the job. The way into “the club”.

   Although. On the other hand you may have a point. Maybe it will now be sly code for lame, or a term that can be reclaimed as a dismissive. Although now that I’m thinking about it doesn’t the act of “problematizing” have an inherent value. It challenges our assumptions and allows us to see problems that had been glossed over as “normal.” Isn’t it a term for forcing a confrontation and the possibility of revelation.

   It is weird. When I saw the post I thought “yeah, that is a jerky smarty pants term.” ( I will not deny that I often fall into this camp and feel tremendous pressure to participate in the “discourse” of “jerk” and “smarty pants rhetoric”) but now I’m convinced of it’s use and value. I hate that.

   duncan.

3. 

   Mark Staff Brandl on February 7, 2008 at 1:10 pm

   Yeah, Duncan and Christopher! There are some words and misused terms we need to purge from our artworld vocabularies (me too!). “Problematize” is one, instead of the simple and correct “The problem here is ….” “Based off of” for “based on,” “issues in the work” for “what concerns you;” I also hate “THE work” used instead of “MY work.” And the avoidance of “Avant Garde” yet the immense use of an ugly equivalent “cutting edge.” The passive and quasi-passive in general (something taken over from politicians) e.g., “Painting did this or that” (Painting did and does nothing. Artists do things with it.) “A problem was made” (in order to not say who did it). And military metaphors like “her artistic strategy (usually simple for style). Any others you can think of?