334. Outrageous Ideas

Almost every artist has more ideas than they can use. The ones that get used tend to be those that are the most beautiful or meaningful, while also being feasible in the medium that the artist works.

Of the ideas that get left behind, some are abandoned because they feel too trite, cliche, or vulgar. Others are set aside because there is something still missing — a part that needs to be added in order for the idea to be complete or realizable. Often this missing part will be discovered later and the idea will find a home in the artist’s future work. But there are also ideas that are left behind because they feel too risky to be brought into the world.

The artist is, of course, accustomed to taking risks. Everything they make is a risk, for there is no way of knowing whether or not their creation will be any good before it is complete, and no way of being certain that others will appreciate it once it is. Artists are always at the edge of the already-existing culture, always pushing in their own direction that only they can see.

Existing on the edge is risky enough, but there are also ideas that go even further than that. A creation based on such an idea would cross over into a space far beyond the bounds of culture as it presently exists. But this would mean the audience would not be able to understand the artwork, and this lack of understanding could easily produce disgust, hatred, or hostility towards the artist.

Both the artist and the culture need to be ready to accept and appreciate a new idea, and sometimes this readiness is lacking. Such an idea has simply arrived before its time. But this is not to say that its time will not come. There will be a day when this idea will be the perfect one, the one that is needed more than any other. The artist would be wise to share even their most outrageous ideas, for they might then be fully realized by a future generation.