asks us to define our own creativity in terms of someone
else’s.
This compare-and-contrast school of thinking may have
its place for critics, but not for artists in the act of creation.
Let the critics spot trends. Let reviewers concern themselves
with what is in and what is not. Let us concern ourselves
first and foremost with what it is within us that is struggling
to be born.
When we compete with others, when we focus our
creative concerns on the marketplace, we are really jostling
with other artists in a creative footrace. This is the sprint
mentality. Looking for the short-term win, ignoring the
long-term gain, we short-circuit the possibility of a creative
life led by our own lights, not the klieg lights of fashion.
Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does
the painter do good things.
EDGAR DEGASWhenever you are angered about someone else beating
you out, remember this: the footrace mentality is always the
ego’s demand to be not just good but also first and best. It is
the ego’s demand that our work be totally original—as if
such a thing were possible. All work is influenced by other
work. All people are influenced by other people. No man is
an island and no piece of art is a continent unto itself.