136. The Missing Thing

There is something you can see that no one else sees. It’s missing from the world, but it’s real for you, and you think others should see it too. So you decide to make it into something real — you decide to create an artwork.

Your first attempt does not go well. The resulting work doesn’t seem to express what you’re trying to show. When you look at it, you can see the outlines of your idea, but others either can’t see it or they see something else entirely. You aren’t happy about this because you really want the missing thing to be seen.

So you try again. You come up with a different way of expressing your idea. This attempt goes better but it’s still not quite right. So you make another attempt. And another. And another. You continue making attempts until it becomes your practice.

Eventually you land on something that attracts a bit of attention. There are suddenly people interested in your work. And they seem to see some of your idea, too. But you want to reach even more people and so you keep trying. You keep practicing and creating more and more artworks, each a further attempt to show what is missing. In this way, you slowly fill the gap. You bring to our attention what we could not see, expanding our reality with each act of creation.

Every artwork is an advance, a step forward in the cultural technology that helps us more fully understand ourselves and our world. The perfect artwork would communicate an idea so directly and so widely that everyone would be able to see it and understand it.

You know you aren’t likely to reach perfection, but this won’t stop you from trying. Through your continued efforts you will create more awareness of the missing thing, and you will provide future artists with the materials they need to make even bolder creations. It might take a long time and the efforts of many others, but eventually what is missing will be made present and be seen by all.