the elusiveness of taste
by Alex Burns · updated 1mo ago
the elusiveness of taste
If a person seems to have a good grasp of a book or other artistic or aesthetic object, by all means be willing to let the conversation flow in that direction, because you will end up staring right into that person’s soul.
from Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World by Tyler Cowen
Alex Burns added 1mo ago
- Looking closely is valuable at every scale. From looking closely at a sentence, a photograph, a building, a government. It scales and it cascades — one cognizant detail begets another and then another. Suddenly you’ve traveled very far from that first little: Huh.
I’d say that that huh is the foundational block of curiosity. To get good at the huh i... See morefrom Looking Closely Is Everything by Craig Mod
Alex Burns added 1mo ago
- In early interviews with Whaley, he often talked about the internet being the magic ingredient to MSCHF: “Life is too short and the internet is too big to not make what you want.”
from The Art of Scaling Taste by Evan Armstrong
Alex Burns added 3mo ago
How to Discover Your Own Taste
Alex Burns added 3mo ago
There is a time for any fledgling artist where one's taste exceeds one's abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.
from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A novel by Gabrielle Zevin
Alex Burns added 3mo ago
- Taste is not the same as correctness, though. To do something correctly is not necessarily to do it tastefully. For most things, correctness is good enough, so we skate by on that as the default. And there are many correct paths to take. You’ll be able to cook a yummy meal, enjoy the movie, build a useable product, don a shirt that fits. But taste ... See more
Alex Burns added 3mo ago
Attend to your influences.
... See more
I suppose this is the ur-message - to be more aware of what’s influencing you and how. Acknowledge just how much of what you think, feel and do is picked up from others, consciously and unconsciously, and try to become more conscious of more of them. Artists pay attention to this because they love their influences, while aAlex Burns added 3mo ago
- Taste is about discovery, having interest in things, and making a lot of mistakes. It’s about trying to find the authentic set of choices that both reflect your own background, but also the choices and discoveries that you have made consciously and deliberately. It's always changing and it's also always in reflection of what everyone else is doing ... See more
from RLT Interview #4: W. David Marx, Writer by Tahirah Hairston
Alex Burns added 3mo ago
- Developing taste is an exercise in vulnerability: it requires you to trust your instincts and preferences, even when they don’t align with current trends or the tastes of your peers. Because while having taste is cool, taste itself reflects a certain type of uncool earnestness – a commitment to one’s own obsessions and quirks.
from Elizabeth Goodspeed on the Importance of Taste – And How to Acquire It
Alex Burns added 3mo ago