The Creative Process

The creative process, it's a collaboration of adding and subtracting, of celebration and disappointment, or even confidence and uncertainty In the end, one hopes to have created something new and hopefully interesting and worthwhile, if not, at least at the end of the day, we know we have learned something new. Sure, sometimes frustration with materials or ideas can make our heads spin but we choose to continue because the creative process, though often challenging, is always rewarding.

One artist who embodies this creative process is Andy Goldsworthy, an artist who develops site-specific works through the use of natural materials. Goldsworthy has achieved a great appreciation for the experience of creating and viewing art. In the documentary Rivers and Tides, for example, when during creation, a piece crumbles to his feet (22:00), he explains that though he is frustrated, he does recognize that "each time [he] got to know the stone a little bit more" and it is this understanding which is one of the goals of his work (25:34). He realizes that though we often place more importance on the final produced piece of art, it is in the process that we gain the most understanding and accomplish the most.

In addition, his work becomes dynamic and reaches its full potential through the environment in which it exists. It is nature which helps each piece reach its full potential. As the color of the leaves which he works with change, and the materials age or decompose his art adapts with the environment. For example, when working with ice, he notices that as the sun illuminates his work and reaches a new potential which he "could only have dreamt of".

His work is always changing, and will not exist in the same form as it was created. His work encourages society to recognize time and the fact that nothing lasts forever. His work embraces time and experience.