Seems simple enough a concept, no? Too often we find ourselves mired in the nature of trends or hot topics that the general public seems to be obsessed about rather than the ideas and concepts we ourselves are obsessed with and, personally, I usually hate "trends." I shied away from the uproar around the Harry Potter books for a few years until I saw the first movie. Liked it enough that I gave the books a chance and found myself really enjoying the whole world that Rowling had created. I ignored the uproar surrounding "Twilight" and the "50 Shades of Gray" series of books. I read a single page of each of those and wanted to throw the books across the store purely because the writing was absolutely terrible. If I had ever written anything like that and put it up for dissection in my workshop classes, my work would've been eviscerated by my peers and rightly so.
This idea of passion and creativity has been at the forefront of my writerly mind for the last few years. Once I realized that writing is where I wanted to take my life (or at least make the main focus of my future), it became important to me to put out the writing that I wanted and that I wasn't the least bit ashamed of. Maybe this idea sounds obvious, but I've met plenty of people happily willing to reach the status quo without pushing themselves, which, at best, confuses me. I'm not satisfied with simply doing the bare minimum and expecting grand results from that.
For many years, I've been a huge fan of certain television shows that showcase a kind of creativity that can't be bottled up or sold. Shows like "Work of Art" (reviewed by me HERE), "Top Chef," and pretty much anything that Anthony Bourdain involves himself in ("No Reservations," "The Layover," and currently "Parts Unknown").
Despite these shows being "reality" television, there is this undercurrent of idea sewn throughout the fabric of each show. "Work of Art" is simply showcasing the artistic process of people who already make art. "Top Chef" showcases the culinary skills of chefs either up-and-coming or already making waves in the culinary world. Anthony Bourdain, especially in his latest show, does some fantastic cultural analysis in regards to the culinary palette. Of particular note, episode four of the second season when he visits Denmark is the reason I write this entry.
Unlike most episodes, he's not focusing on the country he's visiting...he's focusing on one chef, Rene Redzepi, executive chef at Noma in Copenhagen. Throughout the episode, the idea of exceptionalism (widely panned by most Danes) is made out to be a bad thing in the country; when someone draws attention to themselves intentionally for whatever reason, it's frowned upon. And yet, Chef Redzepi has gone beyond the status quo to grow a restaurant that serves up food that, at first glance, feels foreign and alien in ways that have nothing to do with nationality.
Not only has he unintentionally grown his restaurant to worldwide acclaim, he has a culinary laboratory on a house boat where one (or several) of his employees are constantly pushing the envelope with new ingredients: larvae, mummification processes, insects, rot. Some experiments turn out great results, others turn out lukewarm responses, but Redzepi's philosophy is "never be afraid to fail." This philosophy is made apparent in the way he treats his kitchen staff when allowing them all to make different dishes for all the other kitchen staff to try out and critique. While some executive chefs might take the best dishes and put them on the menu, Redzepi leaves the control of the new dish in the hands of its creator rather than superimposing it upon the vision of his kitchen. The dish is theirs to make and mold. The kitchen is a live and bustling laboratory all its own for new chefs to try out ideas. And this is how we should approach creativity in general - never be afraid to fail; try everything; never discount the foreign simply because it is foreign.
If I've learned nothing else during my short 34 years on this planet, it's that I need to do things on my own terms while still understanding (and remembering) the past that came before me. Without knowing the past, I cannot make my mark on the future in my own distinctive way. Will I ever see massive success? That's up to the future to decide. But until I find the answer to that question, I have to just keep doing things on my own terms and no one else's, otherwise the finished product will ring false and hollow, not only to me, but to the public in general.
I have been blessed to know a small number of people who have been more than happy to give me feedback on my writing experiments. I've also been blessed to have them give me the straight truth rather than sugar-coating their responses. This is absolutely key for an artist of any sort. If the product isn't good, it's better to know that and continue pushing forward to make it better than to sit on some turd of a project assuming it's wonderful. I, personally, will continue giving the same kind of honest response to those that ask me of my opinion as well. I'd rather see a friend fail and struggle and keep trying than one that takes mediocre responses as perfection and settles. Every time.
"If you don't have a clear sense of tradition, then how can you honestly go about reinventing it?"
(33,152)
No comments:
Post a Comment