When is it done?

Over the course of the term, as I’ve been writing and animating, I’ve devoted a good amount of time thinking about the creative process – habits and strategies for establishing a good artistic workflow. As the end of the term and imminent deadlines draw closer, however, a new question springs to mind: how do I know when a work of art is complete?

Abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock would famously add new coats of paint to a canvas in progress days after his initial work. Perhaps this was a specific process, or perhaps Pollock simply worked on a painting until he couldn’t stand to anymore.

Growing bored of a piece is the easiest way to know I’m done working on something – but also the least satisfying. As another abstract expressionist, Arshile Gorky, once said, “something that is finished, that means it’s dead, doesn’t it? I never finish a painting – I just stop working on it for a while.”

Perhaps the problem is in the assumption that Art is something to be “worked” on. Work implies a task with a specific, tangible goal and rational justification. Art may have goals attached, but motivations for creating Art are often complicated and mutable.

***as a performative element – I’m going to timestamp updates to this post over the next few weeks to demonstrate how I rarely consider an idea complete due to an external deadline **