In a November 8 article in the L.A. Times, Knight wrote, "In overwhelming numbers, journalistic art critics see themselves primarily as educators. No fewer than 91% said they see their role as not just informing readers about visual art, but educating them," and goes on to heap scorn on this idea. "[I]ts courtly arrogance is actually astounding... a creeping tone of superciliousness is impossible to escape... criticism is a considered argument about art, not a priestly initiation of the unenlightened into a catechism of established knowledge."
Welcome to the strange meta-world of critics talking about criticism.
The question in the survey to which Knight refers (available at www.najp.org) is, "I feel it is my job to educate the public about visual art and why it matters." In fact only 65 percent "strongly agree" and 26 percent "somewhat agree." It's a little disingenuous to include the latter in a group of people who see themselves "primarily as educators," and it's a little arrogant, n'est-ce pas?, to write off the idea of education; it may have pedantic overtones, but also includes the very idea of context itself--a hallmark of contemporary art.
The disconnect here has to do with a larger question in art criticism, which is that it doesn't really live in the same world as, say, the movie review, which (in daily papers, anyway) tends to be about value, about whether the thing in question is worth your money. Art criticism tends to avoid this "consumer guide" mentality, because few of us consume it in the same fashion as we do other forms of art. To write art criticism is to participate in an ongoing argument about art's importance, and to prevent this argument from devolving into critics talking to other critics, you have to provide context. The New Yorker's Peter Schjeldahl, a critic rated very favorably by other critics in the NAJP survey, has perfected this kind of review, but said, in Knight's article, "I refuse to accept any responsibility for anything anybody might claim to have learned from my criticism"--a disappointing disavowal.
By the by, I participated in this survey, and after Knight's screed came out I contacted NAJP to see if I could get my survey back and review my responses. Well, it turns out I couldn't. Now I'll never know (and I assure you I don't remember) just how arrogant and priestly I was feeling that day.
