You’ve listened. And you’ve tried a few new things. Now, catalog them. Make a list (it can be mental). Draw contrasts between your experiences. Note similarities. What engenders strong reaction from you? At this point, you’ll have fragments of information. What you will be missing is context (“that which is scarce”, comme disait l’autre).

At this... See more

Taste is ultimately a compound of three ingredients. The first two, knowledge and curiosity, are important because they introduce you to new fields of knowledge. You must be adventurous. For the first year of your journey, always say Yes!

You get invited to a noise show: say Yes!

Someone invites you to a gallery opening: say Yes!

Colleagues are trying... See more

Step #10

What do all these steps have to do with Taste?

They have to do with the third ingredient of Taste: Love. And, above critics, experts, and academics, Taste is about Passion. It is Love that sends you down the rabbit-hole. It is Love that makes you cry at a concert. These steps are for you to find things you love, not just now, but throughout... See more

It’s getting serious. You should be animated by an incurable virus. You’ll want to watch every interview. Read old magazine features. Find B-Sides. Samples. Misprints.

Read what critics said at the time. If you can, find out what audiences at the time thought as well. It’s a good time to return inside and spend whole afternoons on niche fora and... See more

Turn off the computer. Go live in the world of objects. Go to the stores in your city or town. Touch things. Try them on. Sit on them. Peer, leer, jeer!

In your perusals, you’ll learn who inspired your current favorites. Look them up. Repeat the process. Find out who inspired them. Investigate their work. Rabbit hole. Boom! Fantasize about what if X met Y, and the kinds of conversation A, B and C would have had in 1917 Zurich.

You’ll grow a network of references, a personal canon, a set of imaginary... See more

What do all these steps have to do with Taste?

They have to do with the third ingredient of Taste: Love. And, above critics, experts, and academics, Taste is about Passion. It is Love that sends you down the rabbit-hole. It is Love that makes you cry at a concert. These steps are for you to find things you love, not just now, but throughout your... See more

Build a map of who knows what about the thing you love. You now have context, critical perspectives, and historical understanding. You can place work in a lineage, link it to other works in the canon, create novel connections with other works.