The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Chapter 44 reiterates Rubin’s dictum that the aim of art is to express who the artist is in each moment. Moreover, Rubin believes that competition inhibits greatness; he finds inspiration in other artists’ work but does not seek to overtake them. Rubin uses the example of The Beach Boys’s Brian Wilson and The Beatles’s Paul McCartney. Their “creative back-and-forth” was not based on competition, but rather, on “mutual love” (239). Furthermore, self-competition should only be viewed as a step in one’s evolution as an artist. Each new project should be met with willingness to try to expand the expression of ourselves in the art.

Chapter 45 identifies the core of artwork and its individual essence. Moreover, the essence can be derived from any number of creative elements: “the theme, the organizing principle, the artist’s point of view, the quality of the performance, the materials, the mood conveyed, or a combination” (241-42). Artists should be careful not to obscure the essence during the craft or completion phases. The goal of an artwork is to find the “simplest, most elegant way” to convey the essence of the piece (243).