Monday, August 2, 2010

Process is more important than outcome

Studio, waiting for me


As I look forward to the start of the school year and the opportunity to get back into the studio I am considering this quote from the Incomplete Manifesto of Bruce Mau:

3. Process is more important than outcome
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

This also explains why over-thinking tends to kill an idea.

Over the next 5 months I aim to produce at least 50 paintings. I'm going to work smaller so that I can follow more ideas to completion and experiment more. I have no idea where I'm going to start and I am not letting myself think about it either - I don't want to make the ideas stale. But I expect a lot of experimenting with process and materials.

The studio is getting a 'summer clean' and a total rearrangement so I can have more wall space to hang works-in-progress and sketches. After visiting several artists' studios this year I got wall space envy!

1 comment:

  1. Good post!

    "...process drives outcome..." Exactly! I'm think I'm in a very similar place as you are.

    Yesterday I was talking to my husband about the need to just let myself go with the process, not worry about the outcome. I just want to paint, and see what happens; free myself of self-imposed or artificial boundaries. Isn't that part of the joy of being an artist, after all?

    Good luck with your process; I'd like to check in and see how it's going for you. :)

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