Criticism in the age of blogs

Criticism in the age of blogs (written on a blog)

An interview with a bay area reviewer by Tara Giddings

Zack Ruskin (31) is a San Francisco reviewer who covers local culture, from concerts and albums to newly released films. He writes profiles of many artists, interviewing the musicians, filmmakers and comedians who make up the art and entertainment industry of the lively city in California.  

While attending UC Santa Cruz Ruskin majored in creative writing, originally wanting to write short stories or novels. After graduating he soon discovered an easier way to get his work published was by writing about current events. An avid concert attendee and music lover he entered the world of journalism and began his career as an art critic. “I realized if there was any way on earth to be able to correlate my passion for seeing music with writing then that could be a really cool side gig, let alone now where I actually get to do it as my job” says Ruskin. He now writes for San Francisco Chronicle, Vanity Fair, SF Weekly and other news organizations.

He recently wrote a piece about William Eggleston, a famous photographer who released his first album based on a lifetime passion for playing the piano. Ruskin described how “it was kinda cool to show this other side of him so late in the game of his career” since Eggleston is now near 80 years old. For Ruskin finding new angles to artist’s stories is one of the best parts of the job. He says all time favorite part of being an art critic is when someone feels they shared the same experience of the event he reviewed.

Another part of writing reviews that Ruskin enjoys is that “it feels really fun when you get the reaction that whatever you wrote makes people really bummed out they couldn’t be there!”. He likes this because it provides proof that as a critic he captured the greatness of an event if from reading about it people wish they could have been there too.  

Ruskin enjoys getting all forms of feedback about his articles. While the comments sections may seem like a “minefield” sometimes, ultimately he appreciates legitimate criticism as well as differing opinions. In general he does not include too much of himself or his personal life in reviews. He does believe it is important to make your opinion clear when writing a review saying “I’m not scared of putting my opinions in, I think it would be really boring to read reviews where people are trying to hide their opinions because why are you reading if you don’t want to know that?”

Despite his personal success in a writing career when asked if it difficult to make it as an arts reviewer Ruskin’s reply is “yeah, extremely.” While writing reviews as a freelancer, he also supports himself living in the bay area by working at a bookstore. In terms of finding writing jobs he says “ when I get access to start writing for an outlet I’ve had great experiences, it’s just finding those outlets (…) it’s really hard to find avenues.”

Ruskin is committed to sharing the ever present arts scene in San Francisco. He looks at his reviews as a record of “all the stuff this city continues to have as a way to really advocate for this amazing cultural space and city”. In reviewing he hopes to give people some extra context to the album, band or even film. However, he mentions that in this city the “cost of living is pretty much gunna make it impossible to just go review concerts and be able to pay all your bills.”

Despite the difficulties Ruskin believes in his work. He says “there are things that I feel are worth knowing when approaching a work of art that a critic can help provide, even if the consumer ultimately decides to dismiss it at least you’re putting it out there.” Ruskin shares the joy his work brings him along with the reality of struggle that exists in making a career out of reviewing arts.