Elizabeth Gootzeit

Art is far more than a finished product (and writing those words makes me question both the “finished” part and the “product” part, but I digress). I have always enjoyed hearing fellow creatives talk about their processes. I love hearing how other writers work, of course, and have attended many a reading, workshop, and seminar, but I am happy to hear anyone talk about whatever they love to create.

I have one friend who is into quilting, and now I have a new appreciation for quilts. I have another friend who has a serious pottery hobby. It was fun to walk through art museums together on a recent visit and stop at displays I never would have stopped at on my own, to hear her ask questions I never would have known to ask. (Hmm. What kind of glaze did they use?)

My husband and I have recently been watching a lot of the show Game Changer on Dropout.tv, and later seasons include extensive “making of” featurettes for every episode. If you aren’t familiar, in each episode of Game Changer, the game quite literally changes. Each episode can be a whole new show, and over the years the creators have gotten increasingly ambitious with what premises/gimmicks they want to tackle. The making of episodes feature interviews from producers, writers, art and props team, editors, and more.

I love hearing about how pitches get bounced around the writers’ room among several talented people until a brilliant cohesive idea is created. The planning starts, the ideas keep evolving, the art team starts their work and adds a lot of input. The production team will plan, build, even rehearse, but on the day of shooting three comedians who do not know beforehand what the episode will be are unleashed onto the stage to do their thing. Whatever the consequences, that’s what production has to pull together and edit into a tight episode. They’re almost always successful, with speaks to the talents of everyone involved. I appreciate the polished episodes all the more knowing all that went into them.

I might not want to know how that sausage got made, but please do tell me about how you painted that portrait. What went into that song you wrote? What did it take to finally capture that perfect photograph? How did you come up with this delicious cake recipe? What went into learning a backflip?

Art is an exercise, a practice. So much daydreaming, brainstorming, doubting. So much trying, so much failing, so much getting back up (or sitting back down). Evolving ideas and testing techniques. Figuring out what you are even trying to make. Making it better now that you know. Learning more, failing more, trying again.

Art is in the doing. Art is the doing.

Let us never lose sight of that.

Recently read: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman.
Listening to: Nothing at the moment
Watching: Lots of Game Changer on Dropout.tv