Posts tagged creativity
“ I think all artists are driven by a sense of perpetual dissatisfaction, which can be temporarily remedied here and and there by making stuff, but it never goes away and you feel you’ve never made enough. It’s not one pill, it’s constant medication.”
— Shepard Fairey (from Very Nearly Almost Magazine - Issue 15)
Reminds me of the underlying theme of TGD :)
The Great Discontent
This site is the culmination of years worth of thinking, dreaming, procrastinating and refining. Tina and I first started talking about creating a magazine revolving around the theme of creativity over 5 years ago. The process of discussing it, refining it, and then shelving it would happen every several months… always waiting “for the right time” or wishing for the day when we’d have more time. Resistance as Steven Pressfield calls it (The War of Art) was kicking our asses. That is until this past winter. During the months of December and January we buckled down and hashed out what is now The Great Discontent.
I designed the site between January and July snagging whatever time I could in between client projects and late evenings. It took about 3-4 iterations to get the design right. I wrestled with making it more print-like or settling with a traditional web layout. I think I landed somewhere in between merging the two in some hybrid fashion.
As proud as I am of the design, it’s the concept of the site and questions that are asked that define it for me. We’re both fascinated by creativity and enjoy connecting with other creatives. We love hearing people’s stories. We like discovering their past and learning about their aspirations. It’s amazing to see the similarities between us all. I think many of us pride ourselves on being independent but it’s true that “no man is an island.” We’re all connected and learning about each other as individuals is both inspiring and challenging. It encourages me to learn that Dan’s past is similar to mine in some small way. It challenges me to never make excuses and to let things run their proper course.
It is our hope that TGD inspires you to pursue the things that you love and to use the innate talents and gifts you’ve been given to improve the world.
It’s difficult to say whether TGD would be what it is right now if we hadn’t procrastinated and put it off over the years. The core concept was there all along but as we’ve matured the concept has matured. It’s grown and evolved and I’m sure that will continue. Creativity is often a process. It’s iteration after iteration until the thing is ready. If there’s anything I’ve learned in working on this project it’s trust your gut. You innately know when something is ready and when it’s not quite there. But when in doubt, just ship it.
Here’s to the road ahead and all the creatives we’ll have the pleasure of interviewing. We can’t wait to share the journey with you all.
I’d like to say a special thanks to Dan Rubin for being our first interview and for being a mentor to me over the past year or so. I can’t thank you enough for being so generous with your time and for your invaluable feedback a couple weeks prior to launch.
Just launched The Great Discontent this morning. Will write more about it later today or tomorrow but for now go check out our first interview with Dan Rubin.
“ I’m not sure how my visual art and my movies will be seen in the end, but I think the work I’ve done is at least interesting. And, of course, I’ve been in some shit movies, but I’ve always polished that shit into gold. What I hope is that it will all come together in an interesting story at the end, because I don’t think there is any way to separate your life from your work. When you are dealing in art and this kind of craft, it’s just part of something you are thinking about all the time, whether you are on holiday or not, you’re always onto the next project, the next photograph or painting or movie. It’s a constant; it’s part of you. I think, in the end, the idea of experiencing life is part of your creative path.”
“ From as far back as I can remember, I saw myself as destined to achieve the extraordinary. I ruled out even the vaguest notions of “normal work”. I saw myself as an artist or a poet. Something that would last. Guys like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Rimbaud, they gave me faith because although their lives were tragic ruins, their legacy, their work—the fruits of their suffering—has achieved immortality.”
Why Creative People Need to Be Eccentric
So good, so true.
“ The creative adult is the child who survived.”
“ The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
“ The work you take on can define you— it’s what you practice, what you get recognized for, and what you’ll be hired to do next.”
“”Influence is cheap. Because of that, its utility is short-lived. It may even serve as little more than a platform for duplication.
Inspiration, on the other hand, comes at a price. Its utility is nurtured and harvested over time — months, even years — through personal experiences. I might even argue it’s the catalyst of true creativity.
