the elusiveness of taste
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.
Gabrielle Zevin • Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A novel
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
Tahirah Hairston • RLT Interview #4: W. David Marx, Writer
I’ve come to believe that developing taste is not so unlike going to therapy; it’s an inefficient, time-consuming process that mostly entails looking inward and identifying whatever already moves you.
Elizabeth Goodspeed on the Importance of Taste – And How to Acquire It
Writer Gertrude Stein's definition of genius: somebody who knows who to be influenced by.
Katie Dalebout • this last list is light...
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.
Tyler Cowen • Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World
Haruki Murakami, writer: If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you only think what everyone else is thinking.
Katie Dalebout • this last list is light...
Attend to your influences.
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 a
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
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.