ARTISTIC METHOD

Since 2006 my college students and I have been discussing remedies to the meaninglessness of postmodern culture. And now we are dealing with AI. Postmodernists thought they could destroy the artistic method which like the scientific method is used to provide a systematic and objective framework for the artist to add their subjective expression. My new artistic method and critique guide will be of major benefit to art and design students. It will add value as they feel more direction, structure, and empowerment to evaluate their work with a clear objective framework for implementing lessons learned.

Since the 50’s there have been an effort in Postmodernism to deconstruct the objective side of art. Thus, art schools have been left without much direction and momentum to discover the many objective truths about technique, aesthetics or meaning needed to learn and create art.  My new artistic method like the scientific method is used to provide a systematic and objective framework for the artist to add their subjective expression. I want my revived artistic method to help students learn the objective side of the principles of design as a foundation before they implement subjective tastes.

Critiques are not a place for judgment, but a place of discovery found in dialogue. Art is a never-ending video game that you can never beat in this life, but you can always level up. AI and kitsch both assimilate the cultural whole into a synthetic plastic. In a time where AI will increase humanities appreciation for the authentic human hand and heart, we need terms that will show us what AI is and in not. If anyone can open AI, then we need to produce the students that will better compete with technique, aesthetics and meaning. With AI being more used, students upon graduation will be held to a higher understanding of how to rein the principles of design into relevant meaningful expression. In addition to learning technique, student need more practice with wrestling the appropriate aesthetics into the desired meaningful design with helpfulcritiques. Not less knowledge, but more knowledge is needed to see where AI is falling short in rendering anatomy proportions and meaningful fresh design. Our student designers with earned wisdom achieved through experience and knowledge will be able to show where AI is falling short in meaningful innovate designs and again show how humanities was always meant for human to human expression. 

Jacob E. Dobson’s Artistic Method Statement, 9/23/2026