Very quickly a painting is turned into a facsimile of itself when one becomes so familiar with with it that one recognizes it without looking at it.
Robert RauschenbergRead
I don't really trust ideas - especially good ones... Rather, I put my trust in the materials that confront me, because they put me in touch with the unknown.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of materials and experiences over abstract concepts in the creative process.
Robert Rauschenberg suggests that genuine creativity arises not from trusting ideas alone, particularly those that seem appealing or 'good,' but rather from engaging directly with the materials and experiences that challenge our understanding. This interaction with the unknown fosters true innovation and connection to the creative process, as it grounds artistic expression in tangible reality rather than abstract thoughts.
In practice
During a workshop on creative processes, I shared this quote to inspire artists to focus on their materials.
Very quickly a painting is turned into a facsimile of itself when one becomes so familiar with with it that one recognizes it without looking at it.
I never allowed myself the luxury of those brilliant, beautiful colors until I went to India and saw people walking around in them or dragging them in the mud. I realised they were not so artificial.
I'm not so facile that I can accomplish or find out what I want to know or explore enough of the possibilities and a way of making a painting, say, in just one painting or two paintings.
My art is about paying attention - about the extremely dangerous possibility that you might be art.
The artist's job is to be a witness to his time in history.
There was a whole language that I could never make function for myself in relationship to painting, and that was attitudes like tortured, struggle, pain.
An acting career usually has about a shelf life of ten years before people get sick of seeing you. It's a good thing to have a job to fall back on and I really do enjoy directing.
I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.
Didn't you know I'm going to be the greatest, most entertaining author and artist in the world? Well, don't feel badly, I didn't either!
If you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!
It is a great difficulty and a great necessity to have to start with the smallest.
You don't get music in your daily life, do you? Even in a movie, it's unnatural to have music. I always feel it's unnatural. But I want to make it not unnatural, to construct reality in another sense.
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