while the topic is open, i thought i would throw out my 2 cents. on an *emotional level*, i felt some of dan's comments were what i might call "harsh", or at minimum, "stinging". i say "emotional level" because i was also able to intellectually back off from these feelings and see the core of what he was getting at: opinions about art, criticism, suggestions, and, sure, even judgements. but -- and i cannot stress this enough -- i was not the target of these words. that said, the thing i am mostly posting about is this: once i had spent a little time absorbing the words, i realized that the tone/emotion impact is partly due to what i might generalize as "language barrier" (for lack of a better term), a situation we see arise on this international playing field of sito. having, what i am guessing is, english as a second language, it can be difficult to speak both honestly and gently, critically and kindly. its a delicate balance when in ones first language. i am not trying to "defend" words or make less legitimate hurt artists -- i very much sympathize with, and care about, artists who feel injured or angry at words said about them. quite the opposite, i am just trying to maybe lessen the blow by stating an observation i made.
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