Joe guides the artist to “bring the elevator all the way down” — past thinking, past figuring it out, all the way to feeling. The moment she drops down, she immediately arrives at the place where she makes art. Joe names it: “It’s the source.”
Her habitual movement is upward — to the penthouse, to thinking, to figuring out, to making it complicated. The creative source is in the opposite direction. And it’s always there. You don’t have to go anywhere to find it; you just have to recognize it. Stop thinking. Feel. Look.
“Your movement is to try to get out of here instead of to go there. And there is always there. So you don’t even have to go. You just have to recognize.”
From source, she looks at a piece that’s been waiting 15 years and immediately sees it come alive. No motivation was needed. No effort. No trying. Just dropping down and looking. When she tries to hold onto the technique, Joe warns: “Don’t try to hold on to this thing. Art isn’t something you can hold on to.” The grip itself blocks the flow.
Related Concepts
- Presence is pleasure
- You can’t stop being present
- Life is art, not separate from it
- Creative block is trying to get somewhere
- Art is not important, and that’s freedom