Let Your Art Ideas Ferment
Sunday, 30. September 2012 23:18
Last week I suggested that we might adjust our working procedures in order to get work done to meet a deadline. It seems only fair that I suggest at least one way to do that. My suggestion is to let our creative ideas simmer while we are doing other things, even if the other thing is making a different piece of art.
This idea is certainly not unique to me. Many writers have suggested that the way to deal a difficult problem, creative or not, is to put it in the back of your mind and go wash the dishes, or do anything except dwell on the problem. Then when you sit back down with the problem, miraculously, you have at least one new idea if not a complete solution.
Actually this is not miraculous at all. What happens, of course, or at least what people who study such things think happens, is that our subconscious continues to work on the problem, and does a better job because it is unimpeded by our conscious efforts. Whether this explanation is accurate or not, I have no idea. What I do know is that it works.
The difference here is that I am suggesting that we use this as part of our standard methodology instead of a procedure that we might remember to use when faced with a tough problem. Some artists are already employing such a procedure. For example, sculptor Kate MccGwire has said:
This is not the same procedure that writers use when they put an interval of time between drafts. That is about approaching the work with fresh eyes, and is necessary for rewriting or editing. This is about developing a system that will allow a new creative idea to ferment, bake, cook, simmer.
Essentially, the artist starts with an idea or image or musical figure or symbol or whatever. Then he/she intentionally assigns that seed to the subconscious and goes on with other work, allowing the idea or the image or the musical figure to develop out of consciousness. The artist then comes back to the idea and essentially discovers what he/she has made, and is not too surprised to find, as MccGwire has predicted, that the seed has developed and changed over the course of time, resulting perhaps in a shape or focus slightly different from the original.
What this piece of methodology is not is a substitute for necessary work. Artists using this method as part of their procedure will still have to learn the lines; analyze the character; memorize the music; practice the routine; sit long hours at the computer, at the easel, the story board. This is to be added to the procedures used to develop art.
While this idea may not be for everyone, it is worth trying. I have begun to use it in some of my work, and, so far, the results have been quite good. It is difficult to apply because it feels like you are consciously choosing to do nothing for a time, when, in reality, the opposite is true: you are allowing your creativity to ferment, and that can generate some amazing results.
Category:Creativity | Comment (0) | Author: Jay Burton