THE STRUGGLE OF JACOB the-struggle-of-jacob | Page 13

ON THE COMPLETION OF A WORK OF ART
Before discussing the creative process in detail, particularly the
triptych, I would like to say a few more words generally on
works of art and their completion.
The creative process is certainly the essential aspect of a work
of art but is not the only one. It is the completion of a work
of art that renders it such (exceptionally, also in the case of
those so-called “unfinished” works - although it would be better
to say “interrupted” - such as Bach's The Art of the Fugue, or
the Rondanini Pietà by Michelangelo).
Based on my personal experienc e, the completion of a work
of art includes at least 5 phases: the conception, the
project, the execution (these first three are more closely
linked to the creative process and pertinent to the author), but
also the packaging and the destination, or rather the fruition.
- The conception, the “genesis”, corresponds to the welling up of
an idea, or as we used to say, “inspiration”, and its taking on, in
real time, a mental form.
- The project is all that exists between the conception and the
actual implementation. In my case, it is a systematic operation,
fairly meticulous, and to a great extent rational. But it’s not
always so. Sometimes it can be freer, instinctive. In any case it
is inevitable. At the very least we ask ourselves the question
“how do I make it?”, “what do I need to make it?”. Moreover:
the project takes into account, perhaps unconsciously, all the
other aspects of the work and cannot escape the brio, the
concept, the feasibility, the communication, etc.
- The execution is the most elating aspect, regardless of whether
it is fast, impulsive, or prolonged and meticulous. In any case, it
fully involves the artist on all existential plans: physically,
emotionally, psychologically, energetically, spiritually. It's a real
alchemy that turns stone into gold, amorphous matter into
beauty, indifference in astonishment, ordinary life into powerful
creative flow.
- Packaging seems a rather base aspect when compared to the
nobility of conception and the fervor of execution, but with the
awareness that I would attribute to a true artist, this would
never be the case. The whole sense of a work of art is that it is
never concluded in a private process, but that in fact it engages,
sooner or later, with reality, with life, with culture, which interact
with each other of themselves. And the artist would do well to
foster this engagement, in my opinion, because it is not
insignificant.