In the case of specialists such as art critics, a deeper familiarity with materials and techniques is often useful in reaching an informed judgement about a work.
Acknowledging the making of artworks does not require a detailed, technical knowledge of, say, how painters mix different kinds of paint, or how an image editing tool works. ( ① ) All that is required is a general sense of a significant difference between working with paints and working with an imaging application. ( ② ) This sense might involve a basic familiarity with paints and paintbrushes as well as a basic familiarity with how we use computers, perhaps including how we use consumer imaging apps. ( ③ ) This is because every kind of artistic material or tool comes with its own challenges and affordances for artistic creation. ( ④ ) Critics are often interested in the ways artists exploit different kinds of materials and tools for particular artistic effect. ( ⑤ ) They are also interested in the success of an artist’s attempt ― embodied in the artwork itself ― to push the limits of what can be achieved with certain materials and tools.
* affordance: 행위유발성 ** exploit: 활용하다
