Manifesto, it's such an overused word

- BRIAN CREECH

We live in a world where our role is more frequently defined by what we consume and less by how we participate in society or in government. As the power of the unified citizenry continues to shrink in the global economy, and as the culture market becomes flooded and art of all types becomes seen as a commodity, we see the political and commercial become deeply intertwined.

Which is why now more than ever we need critics who are capable of looking at things at pulling apart all the socio-geo-politcal-economic consequences of the art we consume. For so many people the art we consume is an identity-defining gesture, yet critics are operating in a smaller arena as taste-makers, bloggers, and amateur reviewers close-in the boundaries of true criticism.

It might be elitist to say so, but in order for criticism to remain a commercially viable enterprise, it must find a way to offer something unique and significant. Good criticism has to place art in a world that exists beyond the gallery or the stage or the screen. The best of art helps us to understand the world in more poignant ways, and good criticism should do the same.

As media become more integrated, there will always be a need for those who can navigate the world with intelligence and keen critical eyes. A critic's eyes are attuned to the subtleties of the world with a penetrating insight that can help us understand the greater consequences of our actions by elucidating the latent values behind the things we buy.

We live in an age filled with literate and educated people, more than ever before, and while this might increase the amount of voices that are needlessly adding to the critical cacophony, it also notes an increase in the number of eyes and ears looking for smart things to consume. People want to know how the new M.I.A. album relates to the plight of the Senegalese rebels, and need critics to place those albums into the larger geo-political context.

Critics are ultimately the grand educators, who tell us why things are important, how they are important and what to do with the art/food/music/movies/television we consume. In the end, the only thing a critic need do is help the consumer make a more informed decision, and as long as people have buying power, then those decisions are going to be made with dollars. Critics have the great pleasure of always telling us what is good, and what values in our art we choose to support with our dollars.

So then, as the general education level of the population increases, so too will the need and demand for critics. The world's culture machine creates ephemera at an alarming rate, and at the very least there will always be a need for those who are smart and discerning to direct the rest of us to the meatiest parts.