- How do you suppose you could better prepare yourself as a maker of aesthetic objects/ideas?
First off, I guess the biggest thing would be to try and appreciate other pieces of work. Whether it’s art, music, movies, or writing, there are plenty of avenues one could go down to try and learn more about successful aesthetic objects. Secondly, once you know what others have done, I guess it’s time to put your learning to practice. Write a poem, draw something, etc. I hate myself for using a cliche such as this, but practice makes perfect (or at least it would help a little). Thirdly, you could bounce your objects/ideas off of others and try to get feedback. Whether it’s positive or negative doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re learning what people like/don’t like. Finally, you should probably reflect on it yourself, because at the end of the day (unless it’s a paid commission piece) it’s usually important to be happy with your work.
2. What are things you currently do to practice your creative muscle?
One of my biggest outlets is this class honestly. I’m not a very artistic person and I’m not usually pleased with my work. Some people have a knack for these things and others don’t. I enjoy the process sometimes as I love working with my hands in any setting (one of my favorite job was working a shitty gig in an Italian restaurant’s kitchen), but I don’t just go and work on a piece out of my own accord. What I do use to practice my creative muscle (if you want to call it that), is through music and film. These are some of favorite things in life, and I just enjoy appreciating them. Music and film often have some deeper meaning to them and I enjoy trying to figure that out. Not for anyone else, it’s just pleasing to me when I get to think about these things. For example, my girlfriend hates me because I go to the movies alone 75% of the time. I just enjoy being immersed and then reflecting on the film after the fact to see what I think about it or how it affects me (also I hate when people talk in movies). So yeah, I think that’s my biggest practice of creative muscle. I know I’m not really creating anything on my own, but I get to take something that someone else made and turn it into something unique for myself.