The Groove 171 - How to Develop a Commitment to Innovation
HOW TO DEVELOP A COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION
In 2024, your dedication to innovation should become your guiding light, pushing you not just to adopt creativity but to intentionally embark on ventures into unexplored realms within your career. This commitment beckons professionals to become pioneers, to question norms, and to fearlessly explore the unknown. This is what transforms any practice or career into a dynamic landscape of endless potential and groundbreaking achievements.
Jack Whitten, an influential African American artist, rose to prominence in the 1960s and had a brilliant career spanning almost six decades. His legacy is deeply rooted in his commitment to pushing the boundaries of abstract art. Whitten's work was a fusion of diverse influences, including African art, jazz, and scientific concepts.
A trailblazer in every sense, Whitten ceaselessly explored novel avenues, employing unconventional materials and techniques that reverberated across every facet of his artistic realm. This unwavering consistency isn't just an artistic ethos; it's a dynamic template that can catalyze groundbreaking approaches for anyone in any field. In his legacy, we find not just a painter but a pioneer, urging us to break free from the ordinary and embrace the extraordinary in our pursuit of excellence.
Intention + Experimentation = Innovation
Jack Whitten in his studio, 2016. Photo by Taylor Dafoe.
Having an intention is expecting a certain outcome, while experimentation injects spontaneity and adaptability into the creative process, allowing for the unexpected to emerge. It can seem unfathomable to mingle both but that’s exactly what Whitten did. He insisted on a concept that he had learned from one of his most important early-career mentors, Bill de Kooning: there are no accidents. Whatever emerges in your work, embrace it, because it is the byproduct of what you have intended for.
After Whitten moved to New York from Alabama in the 60s to pursue his art degree at Cooper Union, he never stopped experimenting and innovating. By the 70s, his relentless pursuit of artistic innovation manifested in the creation of his revolutionary "developer" - a proprietary floor-based instrument. This ingenious tool became the conduit through which he swiftly unleashed acrylic paint onto the canvas in a singular, audacious stroke. This transformative discovery not only revolutionized his studio practice but also gave birth to his iconic “slab” paintings. “The successive changes dealt with pure experimentation. I had to find out what I could do with acrylic paint as a medium. I'm after innovation.”
But Whitten kept reevaluating his practice, and in the 1980s he realized that nobody had yet done paint as collage. “We're talking skin, reducing the paint to a skin. You can pick it up, hold it in your hand, lay it back down in the form of a collage, big breakthrough. Those paintings are known as ‘Site’ paintings, heavy acrylic surfaces.”
Jack Whitten, Slip Zone, 1971, acrylic on canvas.
In the 90s, Whitten dove headfirst into material experimentation, giving birth to his radical tesserae creations - colorful chips sliced from acrylic slabs. These vibrant mosaics weren't just eye candy; they were a dance with light, weaving tales of particle physics, tech vibes, cosmic wonders, and the chaotic poetry of code and data bytes.
“A lot of different processes go into this. The paint goes on in layers. Layers on top of layers on top of layers. The tesserae go back years. They have to cure before I can use them…” Then several steps followed that hinted at a mad scientist persona: “The first is construction, the actual building of the acrylic slab. The second is deconstruction, meaning that the slab of acrylic painting is either cut or broken. The paint can be frozen. When it's frozen —I keep deep freezers in the studio - I can hit the paint with a hammer and shatter it, like glass. The third process is reconstruction, and that's when I paint with tesserae, when I build with tesserae, and laminate it.”
Not only did Whitten become one of the most innovative abstract painters from the late 20th century/early21st, but he had also created his own terminology. “Slab”, “developer,” and “tesserae” became words used by art dealers, collectors, curators and writers who became interested in his work. In the process, Whitten had also turned upside down the concept of what it means to be a painter - and he always made sure to say “I make paintings” in reference to a new form of construction.
In the vast landscape of possibilities, it's easy to believe that what lies directly in front of us is the sum total of our creative arsenal. However, the reality is far more exhilarating - within our grasp are not just paint tubes or excel spreadsheets, but a deep well of unexplored pathways waiting to be unveiled.
Encourage Your Own Evolution
Jack Whitten, Quantum Wall, VIII (For Arshile Gorky, My First Love In Painting), 2017, acrylic on canvas.
Of course, innovation is evolution. But evolution alone doesn’t always mean innovation. The pitfall of the expert is to think they know it all. And once someone believes that, there’s little incentive to change. Why challenge what you already do so well?
Whitten, a maverick at the intersection of quantum mechanics and jazz, viewed these realms not as distant domains but as treasure troves brimming with concepts ripe for the plunder. With a bold spirit, he seized ideas from both disciplines, translating and infusing them into his artistic practice. “At seventy-seven, I've been on this for more than fifty years and it's still an ongoing process, it's still forming. We don't just arrive at an end and say, O.K., I know it all. Painting is a continuous process.”
Beware of comfort zones that lead to stagnation. Has it all become too easy and smooth? It’s time to reassess what you do and why you do it. Constantly evolving one's career requires a mindset of perpetual growth and adaptability. Embracing lifelong learning is paramount; staying curious and seeking out new knowledge and skills keeps you ahead in the ever-changing professional landscape.
Develop A Malleable Worldview
Jack Whitten, Mask III: For The Children of Dunblane, Scotland, 1996, acrylic and recycled glass on canvas.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus, known for his doctrine of change, famously declared, "You cannot step into the same river twice," emphasizing the dynamic and fluctuating nature of our existence. The longer your life is, the more you should be willing to see things differently. A strict worldview hinders progress.
For Whitten, “different times means different problems we have to be concerned with.” For example, when asked if he wanted his work to be perceived as Black abstractionism, he answered: "I sincerely believe that in the black community of artists, especially those of us dealing with abstraction, art has to go beyond the general notions of race, gender, nationalism…Things have evolved to the degree where there is a possibility of a new sensibility out there. We're into a global aesthetic here, and anyone that doesn't see that has a real old-fashioned way of thinking”
It’s not a complete disavowal of the past, on the contrary, it’s appreciating and acknowledging that whatever worked to get us to where we are right now won’t necessarily aid us in getting where we want to go. “The world views I've had fed to me over the years have served me well but I'm finding now that I need something else.”
He further asserted that every person has to work on their worldview. “If the individual does not accept the responsibility of their worldview we are in trouble. We have to group together, sure, but the onus is on the individual. We as people have to say, point blank, what kind of f*cking world we want.”
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