To make a light and clean sake, a sake maker polishes the rice; they strip away the husk of the rice to get to the soft, sweet and predictable centre. But the husk also has a flavour; it provides earthy and warm characteristics to a sake. Husk creates uncertainty. It imparts a perfume of a rice grain that’s had less intervention, less control, more serendipity.
The difficulty with digital mark-making is like polishing rice. One can edit, shape, redo, until one has it perfect. But, like a less-polished sake, physical art making brings a level of spontaneity and imperfection that can excite and captivate the viewer.
Neither is better or worse, sometimes I like clean and light sake. Other times, a more unpredictable one is what I’m looking for. And the same goes for making marks.