Not Knowing

I recently shared an interview of the artist Rosalie Gascoigne with my current cohort of artists in the Make Exceptional Work Program. 

The last sentence spoken by Rosalie was “What you’ve got to do is to pull off something that isn’t in the palm of your hand before you started.”

One of the artists in Make Exceptional Work, Fran Romano, wrote in a post in the community group late last year. 

“What am I doing? Am I doing this right? I don’t know but that is what is happening. I was listening to an artist interview on the radio a few days ago (I didn’t catch the artist’s name). I was cooking or doing some other domestic task in the kitchen at the time – but I grabbed a pen when I heard this quote. “From the unknowing comes the best work…” And that is where I’m at. Embracing the unknowing. Trusting the process. Trusting the program. And going with the flow. Who knows if I’m on the right track but at this point – it’s all I have.”

The sentiment of unknowing reminds me of a small corner of Lynda Barry’s Book What It Is. I’m paraphrasing here, but there’s a line where she realises that the problem wasn’t uncertainty, it was certainty.

I am sure you understand this - that not knowing or unknowing is an essential part of making things. Understanding this doesn’t make it easy. Us humans want to know what’s going to happen. After all, there is so much work, so many years, so much money invested, so much riding on the next exhibition or project. Not knowing can feel very uncomfortable, even terrifying.  

How do we deal with the stress and the worry in the pit of our stomach involved in not knowing? I don’t have a precise answer.  Writing helps me and hearing other makers talk about it is quietly reassuring. I’m on the team. The not knowing team! Ultimately, we must navigate this ourselves, we are the ones in the studio alone making the decisions. 

If you’re experiencing that itchy feeling of uncertainty, may this email serve as a reminder, to you and to me, that you’re not lost. You’re in a good spot, for making things you don’t know about yet.

The Rosalie Gascoigne interview is only 7 minutes long and you can view it here.