Last week we were exploring the ‘Artists Don’t Fail’ topic, highlighting how the creative process is valid for all its outcomes, good or bad. It all builds up towards a better artistic expression.
Once we agree on that, another problem quickly surfaces: making choices. In the whirlwind of artistic creation, what’s the value of choosing a certain compositional solution instead of another? Curtis Roads seems to believe it’s a prerogative of the human mind and a key aspect towards a successful artistic formula.
In his words: “Economy of Selection: Choosing one or a few aesthetically optimal or salient choices from a vast desert of unremarkable possibilities.
It’s instantly obvious how this “Economy of Selection” corresponds to the popular saying “Less is More”, seen as a way to prioritize a certain solution over another.
“Long seen as a gift from the gods, inspiration seems difficult to teach to human beings, and even more so to computers. Indeed, what makes a choice inspired is hard to define, as it is particular to its context. Sometimes it is the surprising or atypical choice, but other times it is simply emotionally satisfying, optimal, or salient in a way that is not easy to formalize.”
“Economy of selection is an important concept because it emphasizes the role of subjective intuitive choice in all compositional strategies.”
Roads then closes the argument by explaining how, even before making artistic choices, it is necessary to pick the general landscape in which a particular choice is set:
“Choices in the moment create our lives. I would go so far as to say that the talent of a composer lies primarily in his or her ability to listen and understand deeply enough to make optimal choices. This begins with choosing the right compositional problems to solve - a question of strategy, tactics, tools, and materials.”
