The Devil in the Details

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Detail from The Tuna Catch, Ayamonte Joaquin Sorolla

Keeping a sense of play in art-making seems to us to be paramount, and yet harder to do than the word implies. After all, play should be a natural, joyful and effortless activity, shouldn’t it? It surely was when we were children. But then we grew up, and along the way we were taught that play is not such an important part of the adult world. To be truly creative, it is crucial to be able to let our minds go where they will, perhaps combining concepts and ideas which normally would never be in the same room together, and seeing if we can make them play together also. This kind of freewheeling exploration should be easy, unless one has forgotten how.

Part of forgetting how to play comes in the messages we have received about what really counts in our culture and in life. Being serious and making a good living are often given as the acceptable rewards for giving up our childish imaginings. Now, though, some major tec…