Quodlibetica originated from the desire to write about art and visual culture in ways not confined by academic conventions or journalistic hype. Part journal, part blog, Quodlibetica fosters critical conversations about visual arts in a forum that is accessible, engaging, and committed to quality writing. Based on the Latin quodlibet, which has entered the English language as (1) a statement proposed for disputation, (2) the actual discussion, and (3) the whimsical combination of familiar elements, Quodlibetica is a space to argue eloquently and whimsically about art, find out what’s happening in the Twin Cities art scene, and engage with writers, artists, and critics, who like to think. Contact us if you want to get involved.
Arts Writing
To rephrase a rather famous, albeit (importantly) satirical quote, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the critics.” But if that rush to the guillotine were ever truly successful—and the death of a great number of Twin Cities’ venues for arts criticism suggests capitalism is doing what Shakespeare never could—there’d be more to mourn than critical scorn. In this constellation, we authors and editors of Quodlibetica explore, extol, and examine the role of the arts writer: as critic, as curmudgeon, as catalyst for conversation.
by Ed Charbonneau
When I signed on for art school at the age of 18, it was with the strict understanding that there would be no math, no second language requirement, and no writing (with the exception of an art history paper here and there). As it turned out, I was wrong on all accounts: 1) [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Rene Meyer-Grimberg
The Proposal:
I would like to write a piece while walking through a specific exhibition.
For example, the Spectacular of Vernacular at the Walker.
The writing would be a mixture between my personal reactions, and the processing of media/arts writing about the exhibition that I would read on my phone while in the exhibition, and react [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Jan Estep
Early last fall the faculty of the art department where I teach got together to discuss how we might reorganize. Brought on chiefly by the ongoing budget cuts that are sharply shrinking our program, we wondered how might the six media areas be restructured; we currently are separated along traditional media lines into [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Andrew Felicilda
It had been over three years since graduation, and it was fast becoming clear that procrastination might be the only thing to blame for my inactivity in the film industry. Or perhaps something even more fatal: over-analysis. And so, no longer content to be a dreamer, with what seemed to be sufficient resources [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Charisse Gendron
The best thing about blogging about film is that there is always something to say about some seemingly throwaway moment that is maybe significant, maybe not. For example, in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, when Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning are sitting on the divan in the Chateau Marmont common room: What are we/he/she thinking [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Patricia Briggs
I’ve been reading Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life, a book that has been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to pick it up for years. I’m particularly struck by De Certeau’s idea about the consumer as producer. For de Certeau, the consumer is not a passive receiver of cultural [...]
Published 4.1.2011
By Miranda Trimmier
Dorothy Parker didn’t often write letters, so missives like this are a delight: a short apology dashed off to a Joshua, an olive branch for a bit of drunken boorishness. “I have a hangover that is a real museum piece;” she reports, “I’m sure I must have said something terrible.” Her contrition, though, [...]
Published 4.1.2011