What if, on the days we don’t feel like making art, we do anyway? In the same way that we show up to our day jobs when we don’t fee like it?
Author: Matt Shanks
Scared of progress
The problem with progress is that we’re likely to learn that we’re either not good enough or not ambitious enough. But maybe there’s no other way?
What’s a chair for?
If a chair is for sitting, what’s sitting for? Why sit at all?
The ancestors are speaking
What might we be able to tell ourselves and listen for in order to provoke more positive energy and action in our art practice?
Can I do this?
Where does the motivation for beginning mark making come from? Why would I even try in the first place?
Visibility and confidence
How might we become less reliant on other people’s reaction to our work and the confidence to make more of it?
Proof of existence
Why do I feel compelled to share my work with anyone at all? Isn’t it enough just to make it for me?
Something beyond raw materials
Some work, like some meals, stand out more than others. So what’s on the plate or canvas that goes beyond ingredients or paint?
Effort has value
Whether we’re aware of it or not, humans tend to be able to feel the human effort behind work.
Brahm’s first symphony is an anomaly
If it’s rare for the first thing that anyone makes to be the greatest of all time, then do we have no other choice but to keep making?