Performing the Crit
Contextual Background
UAL’s Assessment Criteria Framework formalises how we mark student work against five criteria. In Fine Art however, a prior mode of assessment remains in use informally: the critique, known as the ‘crit’. These are often timetabled at the end of exhibitions and work-in-progress shows and have evolved into a formative Fine Art ritual. A concern, however, is that the crit is essentially an unstructured ‘off-record’ exchange of feedback that students either take to heart or dismiss as irrelevant.
Evaluation
I am divided over the value of crits in Fine Art. Becoming more of an interrogation since the seventies (Houghton, 2014, 2016), traces of this ritual persist with many students finding the occasion stressful and fear-inducing (Flynn, 2022). On the other hand, by promoting a safe space, respect, and professional feedback from staff and students, the crit can be invigorating, as well as helping students develop some of the attributes recognised by UAL’s Creative Attributes Framework such as Communication and Resilience (UAL, 2022).
On BA Fine Art: Computational Arts our current strategy is to minimise the use of crits and participate in cross Fine-Art course crits arranged to take place at shows. A challenge, however, is that often our students are inexperienced in crits compared to students from pathways where the crit is more engrained in the culture of the course. Performing at the crit is habitually considered a Fine Art skill in itself with an expectation that students learn to defend their ideas and knowledge in response to scrutiny from art critics.
Moving forwards
In the seventies, CalArts developed the crit into an “expanded crit” where a student had to “hold [their] own in the face of intense and lengthy interrogation … likened to a gladiatorial contest” (Houghton, 2014). It’s important to note that CalArts and NSCAD shared an academic structure that had no grades (ibid). The introduction of grades and written feedback at UAL arguably re-positions crits as student presentations. The crit has concerned scholars, calling us to critique the crit (Cleary Rodrigues, 2025), reimagine the crit (Jan, 2021), and rethink the crit (Flynn, 2022). Studies have shown students experience fear, stress, and defensiveness (Flynn, 2022). Flynn proposes a flipped model where students learn to assess ideas by doing the judging themselves (ibid). This approach may help my team reconsider the crit as an opportunity for students to learn how to critique art.
Furthermore, Flynn identifies that the tutor is often performing the role of an expert critic, making use of “history and theory to reinforce and substantiate their statements [and] suggest references”, with a sheer amount of information, in no particular order, posing a challenge for students (ibid).
To give students more guidance, I will start by explaining what a crit is, and explain that different tutors may enact different forms of crit ranging from silent crits to ones that require the student to first explain their work. To guide students to give feedback to each other I can use the analogy of a gift – sharing the notion that feedback is to be offered as a gift, presented as a gift (‘wrapped’ and delivered with care), and received as a gift with appreciation rather than defensiveness. Recently, a visiting artist commented that our students had provided feedback that he found constructive. This presents an opportunity to invite more artists to participate in flipped crits where the students develop their communication skills.
In summary, moving forward I will:
- Be attentive to, and share with my team, the context in which crits are performed, and the danger of reenacting outdated modes of interaction.
- Inform students of what a crit is, and the history of the crit in Fine Art education.
- Promote healthier, more respectful forms of feedback exchange.
- Investigate a flipped crit model as proposed by Flynn.
- Invite artists to participate in reciprocal crits.
References
UAL (2022) Creative attributes framework, UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/teaching-and-learning-exchange/careers-and-employability/creative-attributes-framework (Accessed: 22 March 2025).
Silberberger, Jan. ‘Reimagining the Crit’. In Against and for Method: Revisiting Architectural Design as ResearchAgainst and for Method: Revisiting Architectural Design as Research, edited by Jan Silberberger, 224–34. gta Verlag, 2021. https://doi.org/10.54872/gta/4550-12.
Flynn, P., 2022. rethinking the Crit. In Rethinking the Crit (pp. 1-24). Routledge.
Houghton, Nicholas. ‘Fine Art Pedagogy after Modernism: A Case Study of Two Pioneering Art Schools’. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education 13, no. 1 (1 April 2014): 7–18. https://doi.org/10.1386/adch.13.1.7_1.
Houghton, N., 2016. Six into one: The contradictory art school curriculum and how it came about. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 35(1), pp.107-120.
Cleary Rodrigues, M. C. (2025). The crit: Making meaning with peers in fine art studio pedagogy. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14740222241311857