The making of new work requires endless decisions, big and small, conscious and sub-conscious. Follow this thought or that? This process or that? Trust that intuition? Act on this feedback? Wood, metal, paint, or concrete? Make it big or make it small? Robust or fragile? Cut here or there? This angle or that? Rivet, solder or glue? Au naturale, purple or green? The maker is ultimately responsible for all of these choices, and with each decision a work starts to emerge – trailing multitudes of discarded, un-, or partially explored lines of possibility.
And what then of its fate?
In a biological setting, environmental influences and a species ability to adapt are major factors in its ongoing survival. In a creative setting, what forces have (or should have) the biggest influence on a work or its offspring finding a niche and enduring in this world? And from where do these forces originate? Of the collector, the critic, the curator, the educator, the gallerist, the maker, the mentor, the viewer, the wearer, the writer – who would draw the sword from the stone?
The young (and future king) Arthur drawing Excalibur from the stone. Image sourced here
