dilemma
There's a scene in the 2014 film, The Gambler, literature professor, Jim Bennett (played by Mark Wahlberg) says that "Genius is magical, not material. If you don’t have the magic, no amount of wishing will make it so." "If you're not a genius," he says, "don't bother."
It's not that I think he's wrong. An argument could be made that it’s true.
But, it prompts me to wonder.
What happens when restlessness mixes with curiosity and you decide to bother anyway? How much could you accomplish? What, exactly, could you do? How far could you be propelled? On only work ethic, persistence, and sheer indomitable will?
There's the need for an obsession at the heart of it. “Obsession,” Adam Savage says, “is the gravity of making”, and “bringing anything into the world requires at least a small helping”.
I’m not a genius. I don’t need to be. I just need a problem that needs fixing. I get too anxious when I'm idle. Too depressed when I sit still. Making things pushes back the melancholy. It keeps the apathy at bay.
Chuck Palahniuk says that "as a creative person you get to invent your own major problems" and it's essential that you do. "[B]ecause if you don't invent your own major problems and...arbitrarily [work to] resolve them", Palahniuk says, then the world is going to invent them for you.
And maybe that's the trick to 'prolific' creativity, at least when you lack the magic that genius brings.
Every day I decide that I have only one major problem, one ultimate dilemma that needs my attention, one debt that must be paid no matter what it costs me, I need to make something...
(**special thanks to for providing me with some of the source material used in “there I found what appalled me”)
P.S. - My favorite part of making things and sharing things is when other people make cool things and share them with me.
took a collage I made for a collaboration with and made this great GIF with it.
One of the things I love about Martin and his work is his eagerness to explore and experiment. There’s a palpable sense of wonder in the things he makes and it’s inspiring.
Similarly,
Taylor Walters (IG here) is an incredible collage artist and a wonderful person. Her work is excellent, and her support and encouragement are unparalleled. She picked up one of my Collage Paper Grab Bags and made these two pieces with some of the materials:
A superb collection of tasteful choices, and that stitching!!! This whole piece blows my mind more than a little.
I’m grateful to know creative people like Julia and Martin.
P.P.S. Earlier this week I released my first zine. I wanted to do something that embodied that punk, zine ethos. I wanted to own the process start to finish. Not only the design, but also the printing, and the assembly. I was really hesitant to do it, but so glad I did. Now, I can’t wait to do it again. You can find it in my shop here.
P.P.P.S. - ICAD 279-282 - all the collages featured in this newsletter are available for purchase here.
I would say curiosity is everything. That and tenacity. Tenacity comes before talent.
I don’t believe in genius or talent. I believe in curiosity, wonder, and engagement. If you follow those (which you do) then you’re golden.